Quotes Bar to resume normal operations
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Quotes bar and grill
JANESVILLE — Four months of sanctions against Quotes Bar & Grill that included earlier closing times will expire Friday.
Quotes, 24 N. Main St., will close at regular bar time beginning Friday.
Regular bar time is 2:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday and 2 a.m. other days of the week.
"I'm looking forward to resuming business as usual," tavern owner Denise Carpenter said Tuesday.
The sanctions were part of an agreement reached between the downtown bar owner and Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore as an alternative to a revocation hearing.
Moore hoped the sanctions would change what he characterized as a "culture of violence" at the bar.
Last summer, the department took its case to the city Alcohol License and Advisory Committee. Police administration said the bar used more police resources than any other, and the calls came mostly in the early morning hours.
Carpenter agreed to close at 12:30 a.m. for 60 days—Aug. 6 through Oct. 6. She agreed to close at 1 a.m. for 60 days—Oct. 7 through Dec. 6.
She also agreed to close for a week beginning July 30.
Quotes has a history of friction with the police department, including fights at the bar. More recently, the State Crime Lab determined a security video of a fight there was erased. Days later, Carpenter was cited for selling beer after hours.
Deputy Police Chief Dan Davis said no calls other than routine calls have occurred at the bar the last four months.
Davis said the bar's former clients possibly went to other bars, either in Janesville or outside the city.
The nearby Lava Lounge, for instance, saw a "significant" increase in business during the last four months, Davis said.
"I know a couple of other establishments that some of our more well-known bar patrons were showing up at," he said.
Quotes' closing did not increase service calls at other bars, he said.
Davis said "time will tell" whether the sanctions have a long-reaching effect on the bar's atmosphere.
"The test will start this weekend, and then we'll see," Davis said.
"Part of my apprehension is that the majority of the calls for service at Quotes were very late in the bar hours—post 1 a.m.—so the fact that they haven't been open during the times where they were experiencing the most problems could certainly lead us into a false sense of security.
"Obviously, we're hopeful," he said.
