Milwaukee preps for St. Patrick's Day parade, pub crawl
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- It’s one of the busiest days of the year for bars on North Avenue and Water Street. The Shamrock Shuffle bar crawl is expected to draw 5,000 people to the city on Saturday.
The manager of Replay Sports Bar on North Avenue says he expects the bar will be busy as early as 11 a.m.
“Basically everybody we have is gonna be working at some point during the day, we’ll staff up with security. As far as supplies, we almost quadruple a lot of our beer orders,” said manager Tony Cirillo.
With the festivities come concerns about binge drinking. Cirillo plans to talk with his staff about the dangers of over-serving.
Cirillo says Replay won’t let patrons in who seem too intoxicated. The bar will also have police phone numbers on hand.
“We have all their cell phone numbers, the local guys, and they stop in they know our names,” said Cirillo.
Extra patrol officers will be out on Saturday on Water Street and North Avenue. The Milwaukee Police Department plans to set up a command port on North Avenue and Bartlett, near the McDonalds.
It was one year ago that 28 year-old Thomas Hecht went missing after a St. Patrick’s day bar crawl. His body was eventually found in the river.
“Tragically, we had Mr. Hecht last year. We’ve got patrols along the riverwalk. And the organizer for the bar crawl is going to be patrolling the bridges as well,” said Capt. Stephen Basting.
Alderman Nik Kovac says the city’s Licenses Committee, which handles permit applications for bars, will be very interested in how businesses handle the crowds on Saturday.
“The police will be taking careful notes on which bars are clearly over-serving people, and that will appear in their file next time they come up for renewal,” said Kovac.
Police, bar managers and aldermen agree that those who participate in the bar crawl, must also bear responsibility for themselves.
“Obviously individual patrons may get a little carried away. I think with the whole festiveness of St. Patty’s day, I think people go a little harder than they normally would,” said Cirillo.
Police say the weather this year may help control the crowds at the event. Last year, it was in the 70’s during the St. Patrick’s day bar crawl.