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Atwood council considers liquor
Atwood Memorial Center Council considers a year-round liquor license
Plans are afoot to obtain a year-round liquor license for Atwood Memorial Center.
However, the license would not be used to open a bar in the building. Rather, it would be used to entice couples to use SCSU as a venue for weddings.
The proposal for the liquor license was put forward last month at a meeting of the Atwood Center Council. However, it has been put on the backburner for now. The proposal would have gone before SCSU President Roy Saigo if the council had approved it.
"I was looking to get a clear consensus from the (Atwood Center Council) advisory board before we took this issue to President Saigo," said Ed Bouffard, interim director of Atwood. "There wasn't a clear distinction of support, so we are tabling the issue."
The issue was brought up before the council as an idea for raising revenue by hosting weddings and special events, particularly in the summer, that would have served alcohol.
"There are very few venues for weddings in St. Cloud, and we thought that hosting weddings here at SCSU would be a good way to raise our revenues, as well as providing a place for SCSU alumni, current students, or members of the community to get married," said Robert Klackner, director of scheduling for Atwood, and ex-officio member of the Atwood Center Council. "To entice these people to use SCSU for weddings, we would have to obtain an alcohol license."
Currently, Atwood hosts three or four events a year at which alcohol is served, including the Harvest Moon fundraiser during homecoming and the May Bowl fundraiser, scheduled for May 3. Both of these events are held in the Atwood Ballroom and utilize a full bar.
Organizers of these events must first secure the permission of the president, and then apply to the city for a one-day, single-event liquor license. The city will only grant one one-time liquor license every thirty days, so Bouffard was looking into obtaining a full-time liquor license in order to host more events, including weddings and fine dining, that would serve alcohol.
"This proposal would not involve having a full time bar at Atwood, and it wouldn't effect alcohol policy in the residence halls in any way," Bouffard said. "We were looking at trying to bring in events that will use alcohol, so that we can gain some extra revenue and offset student fees."
Bouffard estimated the increase in revenue at anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 a year.
"It would generate significant income, but it's also a Pandora's Box," Bouffard said. "Issues of liability and vandalism might come into play, but more importantly, it's a question of how to administer it. Is it going to be summer only or the whole year? How do you define fine dining? Will it be open to student organizations? These are questions that will need to be answered."
Even if the issue is rekindled, it will be at least two years before Atwood will host summer events. Klackner pointed out that it was already too late for weddings to be scheduled at Atwood for this summer. Additionally, the ceiling of the Atwood Ballroom will be undergoing renovation next summer because of asbestos issues, effectively ruling out next summer as a possible start date for Atwood to host events serving alcohol.
Bouffard said that under the current policies, a student organization could apply to Atwood and to Saigo for a single event liquor license if it was hosting an event in Atwood. He added, however, that in his 12 years with SCSU, no student organization had ever applied for the single event liquor license that is used three or four times a year at SCSU for fundraising dinners.
If Atwood obtains a full-time liquor license, they will have to face the issue of student organizations applying for the use of alcohol at their events. The SCSU code of conduct states that students cannot have alcohol on campus, but a year round liquor license at Atwood would force the school to rethink and redefine its policy of maintaining a dry campus.
Jake Zisla can be reached at: [email protected]
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