KC merchants trying cover charges to reduce teens in district

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Westport business owners are hoping to appeal to older patrons and reduce the crowds of teenagers who like to hang out in the busy entertainment district.

A $1 cover charge will be required to enter the neighborhood after 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and only those 21 or older will be allowed in because vendors sell beer on the sidewalks.

"Frankly, if you're not 21, it's probably not a good idea to be in Westport late in the evening, whether it's Monday or a weekend night," said James Westphal, president of Promote Westport Inc., a coalition of bar and restaurant owners responsible for the cover charge.

The cover charge might be extended to Friday nights.

Kyle Kelly, co-owner of Kelly's Westport Inn, said that keeping the streets clear might draw customers in their 30s or 40s who have been turned off by the mobs of people.

"It does make it easier if the streets are less crowded," Kelly said.

Organizers are trying to give Westport the atmosphere of a street festival and are talking about having outdoor musicians there.

"It's an opportunity to bring the people back to Westport who've forgotten how much fun it is," said Tom Brenneis, president of the Westport Merchants Association.

But the new rules also mean that thousands of teenagers will have to find a new place to spend their Saturday nights. The sidewalks of Westport have been a popular hangout for Kansas City teens, even though they are too young to enter any of the clubs or bars. Young people have long complained that there is nowhere else to go.

In the past, critics have said business owners are upset with the crowds only because the throngs are made up mostly of young black people. Brenneis said that couldn't be further from the truth.

"I welcome every demographic under the sun to Westport," he said. "But when I run a festival like this, I have to run it under the guidelines of the law. When those people turn 21, I beg them to come back to Westport."