With Thursday marking the return of the University of Missouri’s football season, conversations about safety in downtown Columbia have returned as well. On Wednesday afternoon, local bar and nighttime establishment owners met behind closed doors with Columbia Police, as well as city and Mizzou representatives.
Some downtown business owners have expressed concern about what they believe is inadequate policing of large crowds in bars.
Leading up to the meeting owners of some businesses, such as liquor vendor Tropical Liqueurs, complained on social media about being excluded.
Colleen Rieman’s board game shop Hexagon Alley sells alcoholic drinks, but caters to an all-ages crowd. She was denied access to the meeting, along with some other downtown business owners, despite what she says are growing concerns about the safety of patrons and employees. Rieman said she’d like to see more uniformed officers downtown.
“I think the first thing is prioritizing bringing back the downtown unit. That was taken away during the pandemic, or either pre-pandemic or during the pandemic, but either way, it was taken away, and then it's never been given back to us,” she said.
She said she’s worried about late-night conditions in downtown Columbia.
“My customers are still going downtown and experiencing it. My staff is the biggest one, too, that they're parking all over downtown. These issues downtown affect my people. I want to make sure that they're safe when they're walking home at night from their shift and going to their car,” Rieman said.
KBIA approached business owners from establishments such as Willie’s, MyHouse, and Blytz Event Center as they were entering the meeting, but all declined to comment.
