Birmingham City Council has referred the Cru Lounge issues back to the public safety commission

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Downtown Birmingham’s Cru Lounge is staying open, at least for now.

The establishment will not be allowed to serve drinks after it was discovered that one of its owners, Allen Bailey, does not have a valid liquor license, a situation he and his lawyer say they are going to fix.

On Tuesday morning, the Birmingham City Council held a public hearing regarding the revocation of Cru Lounge’s business license.

Council members heard public testimony in support of keeping the business open and from neighbors who say they don’t feel safe because of the activity going on outside the club, including running the show.

Birmingham Police Sgt. Kenneth Knight also spoke about what he and 15 officers experienced on May 5 when they tried to provide assistance at the Cru Lounge.

“You’ve got 150 people outside meeting, inside it’s packed,” Knight said.

Knight went on to say that when your place of business reaches capacity, just closing your doors and calling the police isn’t good enough. He said calls in the area have included a gun call, a shooting down the street from the club in April that involved patrons being removed from the building and a disorderly conduct flight.

Co-owner Allen Bailey and his attorney described the action taken inside the establishment on April 21, when his attorney said there was a bigger crowd than expected at a Sunday event with an outside promoter.

“That promotion created a bigger crowd than expected,” Reginald McDaniel said. “And once the Cru saw that the crowd was getting bigger than they wanted, they called the police to come in and help keep the crowd down.”

Bailey said he called 911 the day it happened to make sure his patrons and staff were safe. Ward 9 Councilwoman LaTonya Tate, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, recommended that the article go back to the Public Safety Committee and said the business has not demonstrated that they operate as good neighbors.

The City Council voted in favor of his recommendation on Tuesday.