Three months from now, College Park could be without one of its more unique drinking establishments. That is, if Santa Fe Cafe owner Mark Srour fails to comply with an agreement to install a sprinkler system in his bar signed more than seven years ago.
Last week’s ruling by Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Smith on the side of the city is long overdue. For longer than most students have lived in the area, Srour has continually put off and fought a voluntary agreement he signed in March 2003 that stated he would install a sprinkler system in the bar within three years. It’s taken more than seven years for the city to finally turn up the pressure.
Srour has argued the sprinkler system’s total costs of $90,000 is too expensive for him to bear individually and the opening of the Thirsty Turtle in 2007 has funneled away business. We have no reason to doubt Srour’s testimony, but this doesn’t explain why he couldn’t have collected $90,000 during the four years before the Thirsty Turtle’s opening. Making the claim doubly illogical is that Srour is something of a liquor baron in College Park: He also owns The Mark and Cornerstone Grill and Loft.
Last May, it looked as if Srour was finally making progress when Santa Fe closed to begin renovations. But those renovations never got started and a planned investment by former Terps basketball star Steve Francis fell through. The bar remained shuttered until last September when it re-opened for homecoming — and only homecoming. But that same month, the patio was re-opened for happy hour. And then the entire establishment re-opened full-time last October and has stayed opened even though no renovations had been made.
Although this has been painted as a legal battle between Srour and the city, it is bigger than that. Santa Fe has a capacity of almost 450, a number that isn’t easy to enforce and could easily exceed if bouncers are not vigilant. Without a sprinkler system that complies with National Fire Protection Agency standards, all of those lives are put at risk. Nightclub fires aren’t an anomaly. In February 2003, a month before Srour signed the original agreement with the city, a fire ripped through a nightclub in Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200 others. Many were trampled to death in the rush or burned alive. The lack of a sprinkler system and large crowd was a recipe for disaster, and the club’s owner was charged with 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Srour has the ability to help prevent such a disaster from happening at his establishment by complying with the city council. This is a legal battle that shouldn’t have been a battle to begin with. Although this can be painted as a disagreement about the cost of a sprinkler system, it is much more than that. It is a debate about the cost of students’ lives.
Santa Fe is a unique venue in a college town predominated by bars known solely for their cheap drinks and easy access to minors. The bar is well known for its live music and unique design and in many ways is a modern day College Park landmark. Its closure would be a loss for the city and for students. But if Srour continues to ignore a contract he signed that would protect his patrons and employees, he leaves officials no other reasonable choice than to shutter Santa Fe’s doors indefinitely.
