After a year and a half of winding their way through the city bureaucracy, four Somerville bars are now open until 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
PJ Ryan's, The Independent, Toast Lounge and Good Time Emporium were approved by the Somerville License Commission Sept. 26 in a two-to-one vote. The license, which extended last call by one hour, went into effect Oct. 7.
The commission first voted to allow applications for liquor license extensions in March 2004. These are the first four bars to have their applications accepted, but Johnny Ds, On the Hill Tavern, and Casey's are still being considered.
So far, both the establishment owners and their patrons have been happy with the later closing time.
Ken Kelly, the owner of both The Independent and Toast in Union Square, said business has been better on weekends since the commission's decision. "We're definitely crowded at 2:00 a.m.," he said. "And more crowded at 1:00 a.m. than we used to be."
Most of the added business, Kelly said, comes from people knowing they can arrive at bars later and stay for longer. "We're basically attracting people who normally go downtown for dining and drinks," he said.
Somerville bar owners said the change allows them to better compete with bars in surrounding cities.
Smoking was banned in bars in Somerville starting Oct. 1, 2003, but the state did not adopt the rule until July 5, 2004. Between those dates, owners believe the patrons of Somerville bars went elsewhere.
"Some of their customers went to other towns that didn't have it initially before the statewide ban and they got hurt economically," Somerville License Commission Chairman Raymond Trant said.
Businesses were looking for something to compete with surrounding areas. Boston bars stay open until 2:00 a.m.
"The driving force was the licensees themselves," Trant said, "because they stepped forward to ask the city if it was possible to extend their hours to 2:00 a.m. to economically compete with other cities and towns that have 2:00 a.m."
Senior Larry Schwimmer said the extra hour is better for students. "I'm very happy with the new hours because I usually go out to bars at around 11 or 12," he said. "This new rule almost doubles my time out."
Another senior, Phil Martin, said the acceptance of bars' applications keeps Somerville in line with other cities in the Northeast, such as New York, that let bars stay open late. "The old one o'clock closing times were a remnant of a Puritanical society that most people around Boston don't believe in anymore," Martin said. "The two o'clock closing time will give people another option for going out besides Boston."
Director of Drug and Alcohol Education Services Margot Abels said she doubts the extra hour will make student drinking in the city less safe. "I'm not sure that [the longer hours] are going to make that much of a difference," she said. "A comparable school, say in New York where alcohol is available 24/7, tends to have the same drinking rates that we have."
The impact would be "small, insignificant even," Abels said, "because of where this population of folks is drinking."
According to the Tufts University Alcohol Study, conducted by the Community Health Program in May 2001, only 13.2 percent of Tufts students drink in bars, while the majority drinks in off-campus houses, residence halls, or fraternities.
