Violence in a popular Cleveland entertainment district has city officials looking to crack down.
Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack said Monday he’s asked the city’s law department to file a nuisance complaint against Spirits nightclub at 1276 West 6th Street following a string of incidents and code violations this year.
In January, a bouncer shot a man outside the club. Police said Demetrius Delmore then hid the gun inside the club. Delmore pleaded guilty in June and is now serving a two year prison sentence.
On St. Patrick’s Day, Megan Keefe fell from a second story interior balcony. A lawsuit filed in June against the bar’s owners said she hit her head on a granite countertop causing “catastrophic” injuries. Keefe’s family said in the complaint they’ve incurred more than a million dollars in medical expenses.
Sunday night, Cleveland Police also said they responded to reports of two rival gangs meeting at Spirits. They also broke up multiple fights outside.
News 5 went to the bar on Monday, but a woman who answered the door declined to speak on camera.
“The warehouse district is a great neighborhood. It’s a safe neighborhood,” McCormack said. “But sometimes you have a bad operator and unfortunately in this case that’s what we have.”
The warehouse district is full of young professionals with mixed opinions about how to keep their growing neighborhood safe.
“I don’t think you’re going to solve any problems by getting rid of the place where something happened,” Jamie Bean said. "It’s not going to get rid of the causes of that event.”
“It sounds like if there’s more than a few instances, it’s not really a coincidence,” Annie Ariens said. "It seems like it’s…maybe got a bad thing going.”
