When Dan Hughes read in the newspaper that a police officer was seen carrying an assault rifle around downtown Lawrence, following a Sunday shooting, the Massachusetts Street business owner said that didn’t sit well with him.
“He was probably protecting himself and doing what was proper for the situation,” said Hughes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop, 802 Mass. “But I looked at that and thought, wow, that’s another bad deal for downtown.”
Hughes is among downtown Lawrence leaders who are concerned about these reports of violence during the last several months outside the Granada, a nighttime entertainment venue at 1020 Mass.:
• A 19-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man was injured in one of two rounds of gunfire that rang out early Sunday morning outside the establishment. The incident began with a brawl inside the Granada that staff pushed outside, police said.
• A 21-year-old Kansas City, Mo., man was found in the road, knocked unconscious, after a fight outside the nightclub at 2 a.m. Nov. 15.
• Gunshots were reported about 2 a.m. Sept. 6 outside the establishment, when police said a massive crowd of people was socializing and congregating after a party ended at the Granada. No one was injured.
The incidents at the Granada are the most recent reports that police have connected to the establishment since Rashawn Anderson, of Topeka, was convicted of killing another Topeka man in February 2006 outside the front doors.
The violence could leave a bad impression on out-of-town guests, said Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“There’s a perception … if that kind of activity takes place at night that it may not be safe to be downtown during the day,” Billings said.
After the most recent reports of violence, Hughes said, the violence seems to travel from nightspot to nightspot.
“It seems like it moves around to me,” said Hughes, president of Downtown Lawrence Inc. “You shut down one, and it moves to someplace else and you shut that one down and it moves downtown again.”
After pressure from city leaders, two Lawrence nightclubs — Last Call, which operated at 729 N.H., and Club Axis, 821 Iowa — ceased operation after being connected to violence in the last few years.
City manager David Corliss said the violence outside the Granada is also problematic. He said a meeting is being scheduled with Granada owner Mike Logan.
“It’s a very legitimate concern of the city,” Corliss said. “Hopefully the business can be operated in a way that won’t create this type of situation in the future.”
Downtown leaders said they’re not interested in having violence return to the heart of Lawrence.
“Folks all over town are concerned about these activities taking place,” Billings said.
Billings and Hughes said caution must be taken in preserving a good mix of entertainment, retail and other businesses that operate downtown.
“As we get more and more nightlife and entertainment … going on downtown … you have more problems with people drinking and fighting,” Hughes said. “I’m not against nightlife, but if you go all nightlife, I think you’re going to have more of this sort of thing going on.”
Logan did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
Comments
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dadof3 (anonymous) says…
Said it once.... say it again!
You don't see this kind of crap going on in the Country club Plaza. This might be in part due to the type of attractions brought to Lawrence and the fact most of the thugs coming to lawrence could not afford to shop in the Plaza. If you want to get rid of the type of the Kansas city thugs coming to Lawrence, change the atmosphere around our bar and club scene. You play Hip-hop and rap music, you draw in a hip hop and rap crowd. When the music promots violance and gang related activity, thats what you get. You go to a show where there is lots of fast cars and racing, When the crowd leaves, you get young kids racing out of the parking lot and thinking they live a “Fast and Ferious” life style. Don't believe me. Go to a Tech9 concert at the Granasty and just look at the wrong person, see how long you make it :)
"The violence could leave a bad impression on out-of-town guests, said Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau."
I live in Lawrence and have 3/4 of my life. I won't shop down town at night. I'll take my business to a more respected (although higher priced) district. Safety is a must for a Dadof3 (which is now 4)
Make me feel safer and I will shop in your district. You have a shop in a trashy "thuged out" district I'll take my very nice paycheck someplace else!
heybluekc (anonymous) says…
I been to lots of bluegrass concerts at the Granada and never see any violence at the show or outside afterwards. I think the Granada just needs to look at the data and figure out what genre's are causing the problems. Pretty simple if you ask me.
staff04 (anonymous) says…
"Angry Comedians, like the loon Senator from the land of 10,000 lakes, breaking protocol on the Senate floor"
Barry, you do realize that had Senator AngryGramps been on the floor like 5 minutes earlier he would have noticed that others were denied extensions of time, right?
rando1965 (anonymous) says…
require all bars that have these problems to install metal detectors.
georgiahawk (anonymous) says…
Barry, are you just writing ignorant cr@p or are you really this ignorant? Your thought processes are really skewed, reminds me of Glenn Beck! (not a compliment)
HenryPeach (Matt Needham) says…
"The violence could leave a bad impression on out-of-town guests..."
The violence is caused by out of town "guests".
Boeing (anonymous) says…
rando - how would that have helped here? In the most recent one, from my understanding, it was a fist fight. Unless you've got Chuck Norris up in there with an iron fist, what will the metal detector do?
i went to a high school with metal detectors...there were still some big fights.
LarryNative (anonymous) says…
Mike is in a tough position. Granada is large venue with high rent, + hi t.i. Business for all restaurants and bars in downtown is at the lowest I have seen since the boom in the early to mid 90's. Liquors licenses in downtown have quadrupled since the early 90's. The city hands them out to everyone and have 3 new ones going out in the next two months. Downtown business owners have asked the city to cap the number of liq lic downtown because rents will lower and retail will be able to afford space again. The city believes that any new business is good for downtown. Here's where Mike Logan's problems begin. Competing with so many places, the Granada needs to get people in the door. The choices are a band, Rapper or DJ. DY is the cheapest and business being down, cheap is the obvious choice. Unfortunately, some DJ's have a shady following. Mike is playing Russion roulette and keeping his fingers crossed nothing bad happens. Mike has all the security inside he needs and they do a great job from what I have been told. Once the bad element hits the streets, it's the wild west. Now the cops are dealing with god knows what and surrounded by 100 young people, some intoxicated with guns. F-ing scary to be a cop in that setting.
Now, I believe that Mike is putting his business ahead of the safety of his employees, his patrons and the city of Lawrence as a whole. Mike, I know you are trying to keep your doors open but at what cost? The city is not going to stop turning downtown into a giant bar district. The population is not growing so businesses will close, reopen, close, reopen.....and so on. If you can not run a relatively safe business, it's time to cut your loses before someone else gets murdered.
cowboy (anonymous) says…
This is simply the responsibility of the owner to address. It's quite simple , don't book regional hip hop acts. If you do you are telling the community you don't care about customer / community safety and are simply in it for the dough. If thats the case you should be shut down immediately.
Regarding the ownership of this club...the Douglas County appraiser lists the ownership as Granada , LLC , with the contact being First Management , Inc , Comptons name is listed as a owner / contact for this LLC with the Sec of State, Is Logan a partner , tenant , owner or what ?
LarryNative (anonymous) says…
Mike Logan is a rentor. The way the business is being run is soley his responsibility, not the building owners. Unless the Granada building gets lucky and lands an Urban Outfitters type business, it will always be an entertainment venue, it's original purpose. Now every landlord is chomping at the bit to find another uninformed person to go into their retail space and drop $400,000 turning into a bar or restaurant.
We have a very large and well known restaurant downtown that is on the rocks right now. With three new restaurants coming in this year, we may be losing a landmark establishment. Hopefully Applebee's will come in and save the day as Lawrence's downtown premier restaurant. (sarcasm btw)
emptymind (anonymous) says…
WOW Barry.....Glenn Beck eh? I agree with georgiahawk. That was an uneducated post IMO, but if you do look at the data from years past....the blues and bluegrass shows never had any of this stuff going on. That is the truth. Look it up
smitty (anonymous) says…
Links to stories associated with the history of gang/venue related violence:
1 the story of how Olin sees the gangs meeting in Lawrence's venues as good, no violence, friendly meeting grounds for the young (gang bangers).
2 numerous violent articles on Last call, guns, gangs, out of town youth terrorising Lawrence on their way out of town, violence all the way back to KC and T town.
3 the story after a violent episode outside the LC that has LPD street officers quoted as saying they do not have equal fire power as the gang youths that they are trying to manage at closing time.
4 the method of closing down the last call that included a trustee as the owner and the lack of city efforts to follow up for years.
5 the disappeance of Olin from the public scene except for several narcissistic articles on his terrorism expertise.
6 now the rifles that have the down town business owners finally speaking out publicly about the venues that Olin was building his failed terrorism expertise on.
Take not that the city commission has recently directed the city manager to order Olin how to manage down town in the day light hours as well as the night time hours. We have a problem with the chief of police and it's going to take a some effort to clean up his mistakes. Not an ethically easy task when the city commission is bent on keeping his problems under wrap as a personnel problem and out of the of scrutiny of the CC growth issues.
Some links to connect the dots please.
MacHeath (anonymous) says…
Its the same deal with the Last Call. Its Lawrence money that owns the damned building. Parks owned the Last Call building, and the Comptons own the Granada.
Hey, the Comptons could lower the rent, so they would'nt have to book DJ's to make ends meet. How about that idea?
on an unrelated note; I don't know where BarryPenders is from, but maybe he can hitch a ride on the space shuttle. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out of the state, Barry.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…
“It’s a very legitimate concern of the city."
No, it is not, it is a group of ultra conservatives who are biased toward another group. It is not as bad as they are making it out to be.
This is passive aggressive behavior and one or a few people should not have the power to do this kind of thing by forcing people out of business.
Perception can be wrong.
LarryNative (anonymous) says…
Mac,
You must not own any commercial properties. People own commercial properties as an investment. The owner has a bank payment, insurance and taxes to pay. I know what Logan is paying a month and that property is already losing about $4,000 a month when the rent is paid. Lowering the rent any more is not an option. First Mgt is not a non for profit charity.
MacHeath (anonymous) says…
Yeah, and the Comptons, are a not for profit charity too, I suppose.
If that property is loosing 4000 a month, then they paid too much for it. It would seem that it wasn't too good of an investment.
So, you are saying that the Comptons encourage such use of their property?
nobody1793 (anonymous) says…
This comment would have been removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
MacHeath (anonymous) says…
What I am saying, just like in the case of the "Last Call", the owners of the property should answer for the use of that property. You can't blame a renter for trying to cover his expenses, however he can.
As you will remember, Mrs. Parks only became interested when court was mentioned. And, she never made a pubic statement, like she claimed she was going to.
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
lgreen17 (Laura Green) says…
Where are the police? Why aren't they on the street BEFORE something happens. -- are they driving around wasting gas?
This could all be fixed if our police officers would get out of their cars and patrol on foot. They might loose some weight too!!
Horace (anonymous) says…
Just to clear things up a bit regarding liability.
Both the owner and the operator of the property are liable for injuries caused by the property. That said, I'm sure the lease requires the operator to maintain liability insurance and requires the operator to indemnify the owner.
merrill (anonymous) says…
I say stick with Dan Hughes on this matter. His business has been in this town for decades and has been good for Lawrence,Kansas.
Return the Granada to old time movies. Rehab the place.
getserious (anonymous) says…
I'm so sick of this crap I could scream. We all know what the problem is and who the problem is. The problem in Lawrence is that its run by a bunch of leftist hippies that think we should all get along, that panhandlers and the topeka youth are just misunderstood and maybe a good talking to will work. I'm sick of it, City leaders, owner of the Granada- you are ruining downtown and ruining Lawrence. People look at this stuff when looking to relocate a family or a business. Lawrence and downtown used to be a safe place to shop, work and eat. Now its a war zone. For the good of Lawrence close the Granada, Last Call, Moon Bar..whatever. No Hip Hop clubs, rap clubs in Lawrence.
MacHeath (anonymous) says…
I am not talking about liability for accidents. Of course business owners carry liability insurance for their businesses.
I am talking about USE. The owners, in this case Doug Compton, is responsible for the USE of his property..or the property his name on it.
If he has paid so much for the property, that their is no use for the property that will clear a profit, its his own fault.
What is he going to put in there? Another fancy restaurant? A movie theater isn't going to fly.
So-called developers have passed these properties around to the point, that they are over-valued, and no one can afford to rent them, let alone turn a profit.
Not the case of Mrs. Parks btw, who has owned that property for years, Unless Compton has bought that up too. I haven't checked..
tony88 (anonymous) says…
getserious, you're saying that the free-market is not working to weed out dangerous environments, and that you want bigger government and more restrictions to control what kinds of business are allowed, and how people run their businesses.
BrianR (anonymous) says…
"The problem in Lawrence is that its run by a bunch of leftist hippies that think we should all get along, that panhandlers and the topeka youth are just misunderstood and maybe a good talking to will work."
Wackjob logic.
MacHeath (anonymous) says…
Maybe i should say the "The Doug Compton LLC" a not-for-profit charity...
Boston_Corbett (anonymous) says…
"You can't blame a renter for trying to cover his expenses, however he can."
_____________
Oh yes we can.
LaughingWater (anonymous) says…
LarryNative, you are exactly right. Mike is in a hard position, but has made the bad choice to put his business ahead of the safety the community. Quit booking shows that will bring dangerous patrons to Lawrence. Period. He's risking the lives of good people. If an innocent bystander is injured (or worse) it will be on his hands.
budwhysir (anonymous) says…
Next big story in the ljw will be "violence in club raises concerns, violence on streets acceptable"
feeble (anonymous) says…
Hey dadof3, check out http://www.crimereports.com/map?searc...
KC, including the plaza and surrounding area, isn't nearly as safe as you are making out.
mae (anonymous) says…
serious question here,
how much of this has just been happening since the smoking ban? inside the club people don't usually start anything because they don't want to be thrown out. but stressed drunk people want a smoke, go out where there are no bouncers and smoke next to their ride/gun and there you go.
it really seems that all this escalated just after the smoking ban.
9070811 (anonymous) says…
I go to shows at least once a month at the Granada. But I never see fights inside or outside. Then again I tend to go the up & coming artists, bluegrass, hippy and alternative concerts.
If you've noticed, non of the above mentioned defendants are from Lawrence.
And just for fun...The Granada isn't so much a club as it is a music venue. There is a difference. The venue hosts tons of different types of music. Most tend to be different from mainstream. I'd say that only 10% of the concerts each year are rap or hip hop based that attract some not so good individuals. Exempt from those would be Atmosphere and a couple of alternative hip hip gigs. The kind that don't rap about hos, guns and jail.
I'm pissed off that Lawrence is targeting the Granada.
I would ask that Granada install metal detecters and some video surveillance. Or hire a rent-a-cop or have extra security when a certain genre comes in play.
9070811 (anonymous) says…
Or maybe the police could patrol downtown between 10pm and 3am. That might help, a lot. I go out on Mass and rarely see a cop.
dulcinea47 (anonymous) says…
FYI to those of you who are suggesting metal detectors- I heard from someone who works at Granada that they pat people down when they go in. The problem is not people bringing guns in, they leave the guns in the car and go get them when the show's over. This is exactly what was happening with Last Call, too.
They need to have security outside when the show breaks up and stop people from loitering around there, that might help.
BrianR (anonymous) says…
Free-Range Killer Satanic Chihuahuas.
9070811 (anonymous) says…
They occasionally pat people down. I've never been touched, but I'm female. They usually pat people down who wear baggy clothes. If I bring a purse in, it gets check.
ferrislives (anonymous) says…
Anyone that calls the Granada just a hip-hop club has obviously never been there. Most shows are actually rocks shows that don't have these sorts of problems. I know because I've attended countless shows there.
That being said, the owner of the Granada as an establishment needs to re-think allowing these hip-hop bands and DJ's in; especially the local ones. There are hip-hop shows that I would have liked to attend as well, but I know that whenever there's one at the Granada, I stay as far away as possible. That's because they almost always end up in trouble. It's sad to say, but that element just doesn't know how to compose themselves in public settings, and they need to go elsewhere...like Topeka or Kansas City.
Having these types of shows because DJ's = easy money is understandable, but making no money because you were shut down by the city sounds worst to anyone with common sense.
garyr (anonymous) says…
Violence at club raises concerns in my pants!
tony88 (anonymous) says…
what's that? you're concerned about what's in your pants?
LarryNative (anonymous) says…
Granada is a club and a music venue. When there is a DJ it is a club. That being said, Granada is not a dangerous place at all and is run very well with the exception of a few bookings which must be making $$ or Mike would not risk his business. Granada is nothing like Last Call or Moon Bar. Economy is hurting the Granada right now. I hope Mike pulls through this time.
As far as the landlord being to blame for criminal activity by the rentors customers who have left the property........I don't think I need to make a comment about the logic in that statement.
Also, there are fist fights on the Plaza every weekend. I have witnessed several over the years outside a couple different places. I would guess there is gun play as well. The Plaza is just smarter about not promoting their crime like the LJW that jumps on any negative story about downtown businesses.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…
getserious No Hip Hop clubs, rap clubs in Lawrence.
----------------------------------------------------------
That is prejudice pure and simple saying we don't want "their" kind in Lawrence. I hope it doesn't come to that. There is nothing inherently wrong with hip hop or rap, other than it is music favored by African-Americans, and a few others I think, but we don't seem to hear about them.
tanaumaga (anonymous) says…
Can we i.d. downtown , not for age, but for cowards?...no cowards, no shootings.
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…
I think it would be pretty easy to correlate what types of shows occurred on the nights in question, then the Grenada can decide whether or not to continue booking those types of acts. If they choose to do so, then they should be required to pay for increased security.
bigdutch (anonymous) says…
If it walks like a duck , quacks like a duck , it's a freaking duck.The K.C. thugs like your young white girls .They also don't care how much trouble they cause . Threats of jail don't matter to these a-holes , prison is a right of passage to these people . All one has to do is watch the local news .The idiots doing the drivebys , they just plain don't care. They are so full of hate-they are looking for trouble . You liberals will say "Oh , the poor , poor oppressed inner city youths , they're a product of their environment , lets give them a fifth or sixth or tenth chance..." B.S. Anyone that condones this behavior is as bad as the felons causing the problems.And yes , I listen to glen beck ,i'm an NRA member and I own guns legally.
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…
" It's sad to say, but that element just doesn't know how to compose themselves in public settings "
************************
sad, yes. true, yes. why can't this "element" get their act together and resolve disputes with a more thoughtful approach?
AreUNorml (anonymous) says…
bigdutch.. are you saying that you don't take your gun down to the local show and shoot up any people that disrespect you by perhaps bumping into you, or making eye contact? what kind of gun owner are you?
ferrislives (anonymous) says…
AreUNormal, I don't know. I wish that I did, and I'm sure a lot of others across America did as well. This culture of violence has got to stop, but as long as it's excused for various reasons, it will continue.
I do know that there is a growing group of African Americans who are absolutely against this sort of culture, and are fighting hard to get rid of it. I just wish that side would get more press, and that it would continue to grow.
But it's probably going to be a very slow process. It's like a cancer, and we now how easily cancer spreads to the rest of the body once it's established itself.
sandman2021 (anonymous) says…
Yea i bet not a single one of ya'll have ever been to the parties at granada that these shootings take place. I live in Lawrence and im part of the "Genre" that goes to the Parties there and i use to go to Axis and Last Call. the reason why these parties get shoot the hell up is because dudes come from TOPEKA and kansas city and dont know how to act. my "genre" doesnt have many...actually no places to go listen to the music we like and have a good time. So when parties are thrown at Granada and Econo lodge its a big deal. If the ppl who throw the party (cause its not granada who throws them) apply a dress code or only let ppl with student ids like they use too then no of this would happen
ralphralph (anonymous) says…
I've been to the Granada a lot of times, I'm stupid and often inebriated, but I've never shot anyone or been shot at by anyone. I don't go to rap or hip-hop shows. Is that the reason? I really don't know, since there haven't been any problems when I've been there. I don't believe it's a racial thing either, as I've spent too many hours in too many clubs seeing blues and jazz acts in KC and Chicago, and never had any problems. Must be the particular culture, not the genetics.
I don't think you can ignore the reality if there really is a direct correlation between the type of show and the recurrence of the violence ... especially shooting, which tends to hurt pretty badly.
If you are having to pat-down customers coming in your door, you may want to redirect your marketing. If you don't, then you need to pay the price for the peril you create.
dadof3 (anonymous) says…
feeble (Anonymous) says…
"Hey dadof3, check out http://www.crimereports.com/map?searc…
KC, including the plaza and surrounding area, isn't nearly as safe as you are making out."
Yep seen lots of theft which goes with "not being able to afford shopping there" Honestly I feel much safer shopping there due to the better police coverage than Lawrence and our capable staff of law enforcment officers. I would rather take the family to Mccormick and Schmick's to eat knowing when I leave there will probably be an over weight cop arresting a shop lifter, rather than walk around downtown Lawrence and hope one of my kids don't get shot after an undesirable venue coming out of the Granasty.
tumbilweed (anonymous) says…
"I say stick with Dan Hughes on this matter. His business has been in this town for decades and has been good for Lawrence,Kansas.
Return the Granada to old time movies. Rehab the place."
Let us not forget that it was the previous owners of Sunflower, not Dan Hughes, that made it the great place it is. Those previous owners also rebuilt Sunflower after the fire of '97 and completely rehabbed Liberty Hall.
As for the Granada, I go there sometimes. I have even felt tension in the audience at a reggae show. Y'all need to calm down, yo.
tumbilweed (anonymous) says…
Dad of 3, you mean you have your kids downtown at 2am?
jimmyjms (anonymous) says…
Yes, let's cry for Doug Compton and Larry Brown. Those guys most definitely need more money.