Uptown alcohol sales
Merchants say area is revitalized

Thursday, December 14, 2006

By LIN RICE
ThisWeek Staff Writer

Photos by Paul Vernon/ThisWeek

(Above) Michael Evans at the tap in his restaurant, Michael's Pizza, Monday evening. (Below) Wally Carl (left) and Sonia Hess have a beer while waiting on a carry-out order.


It's been nearly a year since Westerville reopened its historic Uptown district to the sale of alcohol, and area merchants have been repeating the same word to describe the change: revitalized.

Uptown's first legal bottle of beer in more than 72 years was opened earlier this year at Michael's Pizza, 15 E. College Ave. Owner Michael Evans said that since then, he has seen more people crowding the streets surrounding his business.

"I think that there's been a lot more foot traffic, more people are coming out," Evans said. "It seems like things have been getting better all the time. The weekends are still busiest, of course, but now more businesses may come in, hopefully."

Westerville voters opened the doors to Uptown alcohol sales by approving liquor options for Mike Purdum's Old Bag of Nails Pub for sales in November 2004, followed by businesses such as Michael's Pizza and Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta House. Since then, most liquor options throughout the city have been met with approval. Of the 10 liquor options on last month's ballot, voters approved seven.

Although social groups fought against the change in years past, the opposition has pretty much disbanded, according to Amy Pressler, former spokesperson for Safety and Tradition over Profit (STOP).

"There is no longer any STOP organization. The last opposition we put forward was when Old Bag of Nails was on the ballot in 2004," Pressler wrote in an e-mail. "Once Old Westerville went 'wet,' what was left to fight? Since then, almost a dozen other Westerville options have passed, as has the long, colorful 'dry' tradition of our city."

While STOP had previously shown concern that alcohol in Uptown would result in a less-inviting atmosphere, Westerville Police Chief Joe Morbitzer said his department has seen little to no rowdiness in Uptown over the past year.

"We really haven't seen any problems. They (the business owners) pretty much police themselves to make sure people don't get out of hand," Morbitzer said. "We've not seen any real increase in calls since alcohol began to be served. The businesses we have Uptown aren't the sort you would think would get out of hand; they are invested in this community and have a general concern for its citizens."

Purdum said his business stays fairly quiet.

"You always can have that instance of one person having too much, but we'll grab a cab for them or sometimes even drive them home ourselves," he said. "But those are the exception, not the rule."

Purdum also said he has seen an increase in foot traffic, along with consistent sales at the Old Bag of Nails since January.

"We've been doing really well. We're already completely booked for banquets through December," Purdum said. "It's been fun here in Westerville. It feels like we've blended in here in Uptown well."

Purdum estimated that his business sees about 3,000 customers a week.

Others said the sale of alcohol in Uptown has allowed merchants to compete with other parts of the community that have been selling libations for years.

"I guess it has leveled the playing field with other communities," said Janet Tressler-Davis, president and CEO of the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We're fighting all the major corporations that are within like five minutes of us," Evans said. "This is such a unique little area, and to keep it going, we had to do something like this. I'm not saying (liquor sales) was the only answer, but it definitely helped."

Tressler-Davis stressed that while Uptown foot traffic has increased in the past year, alcohol may not be the only reason.

"It seems like there is more activity Uptown, but part of that could be how active the Uptown Merchants Association has been in the past year," she said. "It could be that their additional activity in combination with the additional sales in these restaurants."

Uptown Merchants Association president Tim Bullock indicated that alcohol sales don't make up enough dollars to produce a significant impact Uptown, but it could be bringing shoppers to surrounding stores.

"I think some of the businesses (selling alcohol) have ancillary benefits to the other businesses in town," Bullock said. "These are niche businesses mostly, and it can provide a benefit to those niches that they wouldn't see otherwise."

While the face of Uptown is slowly changing, some owners said alcohol sales won't affect the character of their businesses.

"We haven't really changed anything. That's what we promised when we solicited voters (for a liquor permit)," said Jim Francisco, owner of Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta House. "We still remain a family atmosphere and child-friendly, and we didn't want to change that concept."

Now that the initial shock of being able to buy a beer or mixed drink in Uptown has worn off, Evans said merchants and the city can focus on another issue in the neighborhood -- parking.

"That's going to be an ongoing battle. Hopefully, someday the city would even consider a small parking garage," Evans said. "But for now, it seems Uptown has become more vibrant, more upbeat and more lively."

Whiskey Wars didn't end drinking in Westerville

By MARK MAJOR

The headline could have been written just a few years ago.

"First Beer in 60 years Flows in Westerville," it reads.

Those words, which appeared in an unidentified newspaper on July 28, 1933, prove wrong a belief widely held by many area residents.

"It's a common misconception that there was no alcohol in Westerville after the end of the Whiskey Wars," said Beth Weinhardt, local history coordinator for the Westerville Public Library. "Beer was served in Westerville. It wasn't like 150 years without alcohol."

Forgotten history

It was shortly after the repeal of prohibition that Charles V. Taylor served beer for a short time at his cafe, located on East Main Street in Uptown. The move sparked heated debate in central Ohio, according to records contained in the archives of the Anti-Saloon League Museum at the Westerville Public Library.

On one hand, a coalition of civic leaders, clergy and members of the city's "law enforcement committee," made their position clearly known to Taylor: Alcohol must not be served in "The Dry Capital of the World."

Meanwhile, the opposition shuttled customers to Taylor's cafe. Members of a Columbus Moose Lodge, for example, made the bus trip to Westerville to hoist a brew to show their support for Taylor. In the end, voters shut down the taps at Taylor's cafe in November 1933 by denying him a local liquor option.

"It was a brief period of time, really, just a few weeks," said Bill Merriman, president of the Westerville Historical Society and an active campaigner against liquor options in Westerville.

Though Westerville wasn't continuously "dry" from the end of the Whiskey Wars in 1879 until the end of the 20th century, that brief "wet" spell in the 1930s was little more than a blip in the timeline of prohibition in the city.

The history of the Temperance Movement in Westerville -- longtime home of the Anti-Saloon League -- is bookended by the Whiskey Wars of the 19th century and the issuing of permits throughout Westerville in the last few years, essentially breaking the back of the city's "dry" tradition.

The Whiskey Wars

The Whiskey Wars, which had their grandest battles in 1875 and 1879, were waged largely between a bar owner named Henry Corbin and -- seemingly -- everybody else.

Lined up against Corbin were city leaders, members of the Temperance Movement, businessmen, the city's postmaster, leadership at Otterbein College and members of the clergy.

The first round of battles took place in 1875, when at one point, Corbin stood in the door of his West Main Street saloon, brandishing pistols and "swearing most horridly," according to one contemporary account.

In the end, his opposition won that round when it used gunpowder to blow up the bar repeatedly.

The second round ended similarly with an explosion so huge it rendered the Corbin House hotel uninhabitable. The explosion at the hotel and saloon, located near the intersection of College Avenue and State Street, was heard up to eight miles away, according to reports at the time.

The end of an era

Fast forward past Taylor's cafe and the next event of note occurred in 2000, when Minico's Pizza Restaurant, 992 S. Sunbury Road, received the first license to serve alcohol in Westerville after more than six "dry" decades.

Minico's license opened the floodgates, though it was not without controversy -- city leaders challenged the issuing of the permit and Safety and Tradition Over Profit, a group led by local activist Amy Pressler, campaigned against it.

By the beginning of 2006, 15 establishments -- carryouts, groceries and restaurants -- had permission to sell alcohol within Westerville's city limits. The next milestone came when Michael's Pizza, 15 E. College Ave., served its first beer on Jan. 12, 2006.

Before Michael's received its license, the establishments permitted to serve alcohol within the city were outside "traditional" Westerville, in areas not incorporated during the heyday of the Temperance Movement.

When owner Michael Evans made Uptown's first legal sale of beer in 73 years, scant yards from the former site of the Corbin House, Westerville's "dry" tradition was over.

"It simply was the final chapter in the wet/dry struggle that Westerville engaged in from the time of its founding to that very day," Merriman said.

Some might say it ended earlier -- Old Bag of Nails owner Mike Purdum, received voter approval to sell alcohol in Uptown before Evans did, though construction setbacks kept Purdum from serving the first beer.

Either way, there is little doubt Westerville has gone "wet" for the foreseeable future. With voter approval Nov. 7 of liquor options for four more establishments, Westerville could soon be home to almost 30 permit-holding alcohol retailers. For Merriman, the end of Westerville's Temperance tradition is a loss for the city.

"It's the unique aspect of the history of this community," he said. "It distinguishes us from other communities, and I am just so disappointed to see it end."



February 9, 2010 | Currently:  25° Snow
Search the Web Search this site