Articles

A 'Fun, Safe' Underground

Milo Ippolito, AJC Staff
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
January 29, 2004

Whether a new Underground Atlanta can be successful hinges heavily on whether Atlanta area residents and tourists will feel safe going downtown for entertainment.

The city, which owns the historically money-losing complex, knows it. "It has to be only the quality operators," said City Councilman Lamar Willis.

The company hired to manage Underground knows it.

"This has got to be a really fun, safe environment," said Dan O'Leary, Underground general manager.

City officials announced plans this week to bring popular nightclubs from Buckhead and Midtown to Underground Atlanta. Clubs that have signed on to relocate or open new venues at Underground include Mako's, Masquerade, Tongue & Groove, Loca Luna and Black Bear Tavern. More club owners are expected to sign on in the coming weeks.

Underground management invited those clubs because they have reputations for being well-run establishments that do not have histories of attracting crime, city officials said.

But while plans have not been finalized, police say more officers are needed to patrol inside and outside the complex, including surrounding streets and public parking garages, said assistant police Chief Alan Dreher.

Currently, Underground has private security guards and surveillance cameras. And, Atlanta police have a mini-precinct there with 14 officers.

"But we might end up having 50," said police Chief Richard Pennington. "We might end up having 60."

Police Department officials could not say Wednesday where they would get the officers.

"We're not going to be pulling any officers off any other patrols just for the Underground," Dreher said.

Money to pay extra police officers could come from a proposed door charge to enter Underground at night. Another suggestion has been to pay for police with a portion of valet parking fees or a proposed bartender's license fee, Willis said.

Tenants already pitch in for security through a common-area maintenance fee, said Warren Bruno, spokesman for the Atlanta Licensed Beverage Council.

The city's Buckhead entertainment district has suffered due to violence outside clubs.

A shootout in Buckhead Village last year killed two men and sped up the decline of that area's reign as Atlanta's nightlife epicenter. Buckhead's troubles were in part associated with hip-hop clubs. So far no hip-hop clubs are included in Underground's new lineup. But Willis said he is courting reputable hip-hop club operators.

Because Underground is mainly an indoor complex the crowd can be more easily managed, O'Leary said.

"Every entry will be controlled," he added.

Underground will institute a policy of not allowing anyone under age 21 to enter after 9 or 10 p.m., O'Leary said.

The indoor environment at Underground coupled with downtown's maze of one-way streets should deter the cruising traffic that has plagued Buckhead on weekend nights, Willis said.

"We've talked about how to deal with cruising if that did become a problem," Willis said.

Public transportation is available; however, the MARTA station across the street closes about 1 a.m. when trains stop running. Underground can stay open until 4 a.m.

"There has been no decision to date about extending those hours," MARTA spokeswoman Steen Miles said.

"That is not to say those discussions could not be held in the future," she said.

Police will continue to enforce public nuisance laws to discourage panhandlers and street corner shouters that hang around the MARTA Five Points station, across the street from Underground.

"We've made hundreds of arrests over the past year and we will continue that enforcement," Dreher said.

The question remains whether the crowds will follow the clubs.

"I'd at least check it out once," club-goer Aaron Fullen said. "I'm looking for a place in Midtown or downtown and if it's cool, it might sway my decision."

Fullen, a 29-year-old Vinings software salesman who frequents Midtown clubs such as Eleven50 and Leopard Lounge, said he hasn't been to Underground Atlanta in four years because there's nothing there for him.

Dante's Down the Hatch, a jazz club, closed its Underground location in 1999 and since has concentrated on Buckhead. Dante Stephensen said he left Underground because his club was the last one standing and could not survive alone. "If the streets are empty, there's an intimidation factor," he said.

Stephensen said Underground's image was unfairly tarnished by downtown street crimes that often had nothing to do with the facility. The notion that Underground was dangerous scared off customers more than any actual crime inside the place, he said.

"The perception of crime was bad," Stephensen said, "fed by the media's need to preach doom."

Reprinted with permission from The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. Further reproduction, retransmission or distribution of these materials without the prior written consent of The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, and any copyright holder identified in the material's copyright notice, is prohibited.