City to tackle Old Town safety concerns

Recent violence in Old Town is causing Wichita City Council members to take action. They're having a special meeting next month that could lead to new ordinances for the entertainment district.

Joe's in Old Town is one of the newest bars in the area, but the owners have been in the bar business for decades.

"We don't do things the way we used to do things because of the problems that it created," said Owner Dave Allan

Allan used to have 18 and over nights in his other clubs, but he doesn't anymore. He's glad city council members may ban the younger crowd from coming to old town.

"To help better the environment down here and bring people down here instead of scaring people away." Allan said.

Two weeks ago, Wichita police added extra officers to patrol the streets.as a short term solution to help prevent more violence. In August, shots were fired four different times in this area. No one was hurt.

Another long term fix may be creating a new loitering ordinance in Old Town, that will prevent people from hanging out in the streets when the bars close.

"Certainly we have identified a problem and we are addressing that with immediate action," said Wichita City Council member Janet Miller. "We have an internal task team that is working on this particular issue, we've met with club owners."

Council members may also add surveillance cameras and more lighting. Some bars owners have already done.

"We just put more lighting to light up our parking lot just to keep people more safe and make people feel safe down here," Allan said. "That really isn't our responsibility, but we're doing it to help out Old Town."

Mort's Cigar bar and the Pumphouse have also added extra lighting in recent weeks. All of those bar owners plan to attend the October 9 meeting to support the proposed changes.