Logan House, back in news after gunfire, has long irked some neighbors
Jessica Bies
Editor's note: This story has been updated to more clearly differentiate between the Logan House's front and back patio.
You know that patio at the Logan House? The one where a 25-year-old New Castle man fired a gun into the air on Sunday?
When the bar's back patio opened in 1983, nearby residents fought hard to get it shut down, according to News Journal archives. The front patio has been there since 1864 but hadn't attracted the same kind of nightlife. The back patio had been dormant for a number of years.
Read archival stories about the patio at the bottom of this page.
"It's a circus," testified Anna Hentkowski, who lived across the street from the bar, at a hearing held by Delaware's Office of Alcoholic Beverage and Control in the 1980s.
She compared the atmosphere to one of Delaware's beach bars and asked for the patio to close.
Michael Kelly, a well-known Wilmington lawyer and Logan House's owner, said on Tuesday that the bar has taken steps to coexist peacefully with the surrounding community. The staff takes great care making sure patrons don't disturb local residents or keep them up at night.
"We do have a great relationship with the community," he said. "I am part of it, as my family and I grew up one block up the street. I remain a member of the local Catholic Church, St. Ann’s. We are always sensitive to the concerns of our neighbors. Unlike other establishments in the area, we limit the hours and type of entertainment that occurs on our outdoor patio."
On Facebook, at least some bargoers reinforced that view, applauding the way staff responded to the incident Sunday morning and hailing the Logan House as "a great bar, with a friendly and thoughtful staff and a strong legacy."
Others said the Logan House frequently has fights outside and that the patio can be a dangerous place to hang out at night.
A long legal battle over patio
In 1983, residents offered a laundry list of complaints about the patio's high noise levels and the unseemly behavior of its patrons. The Forty Acres Civic Association also lodged a complaint, and on Aug. 11, 1983, just months after it opened, the patio was closed.
It reopened Aug. 18 by the order of Supreme Court Justice Andrew D. Christie but then closed for the season on Oct. 6, after the alcoholic beverage control commission denied the business a new permit.
And so began a two-year battle over the Logan House patio.
Petitions circulated and in 1984, two retirees from the Lincoln Towers apartment building testified that all the commotion at the taproom had deprived them of sleep and contributed to their failing health.
Lawyers commenced quibbling, and for a while, John D. Kelly III, Michael Kelly's father and the former owner of the tavern who died in 2003, thought the $25,000 he spent renovating the patio would be wasted.
Then-manager Paul Ogden and his brothers installed two new restrooms, a large canvas awning and a privacy wall in an attempt to address the community's concerns, but after a 4.5-hour hearing in October 1984, the permit was denied again.
The commission also denied a one-day permit to serve liquor outside on the Logan House's rear patio. It spoiled the bar's plans to accommodate more people on St. Patrick's Day, traditionally the tavern's biggest day of business.
When the patio was eventually OK'd in 1986, it was to the anger and disbelief of the Forty Acres Civic Association, who said the family did little to improve the noise and parking problems.
At yet another hearing, three Wilmington City Council members and several of Kelly's political allies, including a Democratic state senator and a national party committeewoman, testified.
Michael Kelly said his father refrained from using political influence to win the license.
"He could have gotten umpteenth letters written for him, but he didn't have to ask for anyone's help," he told The News Journal in 1986.
A review of The News Journal's archives shows there weren't any more major issues with the patio until 2013, when the Logan House started having live music on its back patio and it was discovered the tavern didn't have the proper variance from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
The business voluntarily shut down the shows until the variance got approved in 2015. Once again, neighbors protested and complained about the noise.
When the bar was given permission to resume the entertainment, it was with some conditions. Only acoustic music with light amplification would be allowed from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursdays, 6 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and 2 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. No live, outdoor music is allowed on Sundays.
Problem not limited to patio, or Loop
After the gunfire Sunday, some blamed the Logan House and others defended it. The Forty Acres Civic Association said the following in a Facebook message:
"For many of the neighbors, the patio at the Logan house is not the problem, nor does the problem solely lie with the Logan house. Many of the residents in Forty Acres have taken part in the Halloween Loop. For many years it has been a safe and fun way to enjoy Halloween and the bar scene. The Halloween and other themed bar loops have gotten out of hand in the last few years. Loop-goers push the limits beyond leaving trash as they walk from bar to bar — bits of costumes left wherever they fall, beer bottles thrown into gardens and the occasional condom discarded on a front step or chucked onto a car windshield."
The message said loop-goers have also taken to sitting on neighborhood porches, waking homeowners at 1 in the morning with their yells and screams, as well as stealing some of their belongings. After one loop, for example, a neighborhood resident lost their 2-feet-tall Santa Claus decoration.
When residents have complained, they've gotten backlash, the civic association said.
"We have been told (inaccurately) that the bars were here first, and it's been suggested that 'we knew what we were getting into when we moved into this neighborhood,'" the civic association said. "The fact of the matter is some of us have lived here as long as the Logan House has been in existence, and certainly many of us have lived here longer than the other bars have been in existence. Again it's not just the Logan house. It's not even the various loops, but the participants who have no respect for our neighborhood and the people who live here. One wonders if the shooting will change anything or if that, too, is just something that we are all supposed to accept."
What's the future of the patio?
It seems unlikely that anything will happen to the bar's patio permit.
Tyler Vega, who was quickly tackled and arrested after he was seen firing a gun on the business' patio, may have been intoxicated well before he arrived at the Logan House. The idea behind the Wilmington Halloween Loop is that participants can drink at several different bars without paying multiple cover charges.
Kelly said he's not worried about the bar's patio permit or liquor license.
"I am not concerned about being 'dinged' for what happened on Saturday night," he said. "I think the video shows that the Logan House staff apprehended the antagonist within seconds. I applaud the Logan House staff for how they handled the situation; and they literally put their lives on the line."
"Some things cannot be prevented even in the exercise of the greatest care. Unfortunately, we now live in an age where bars, restaurants, offices, schools and even places of worship may soon have to have metal detectors."
Joe Mujica, Logan House's general manager, said he had 15 bouncers working that night, as well as three barbacks who also work as bouncers on other nights.
He was at the entrance when the gunshots rang out and saw his team in action, firsthand.
"They were able to jump on him right away before it could have escalated into anything more," Mujica said. "They went above and beyond to make sure our staff and patrons were all safe. Some people might run in those moments, but they didn't."
John Cordrey, the commissioner of the Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said licenses and permits are typically only revoked or suspended if there have been multiple violations.
Whether the Logan House did anything improper would be determined by the state's Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement, Cordrey said.
Wendy Hudson, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department Of Safety And Homeland Security, which encompasses the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement, said it is not looking into the incident.
"Administratively, DATE is not involved in this investigation as the incident occurred outside of the establishment," she said in an email.
Many violations center around serving minors or selling alcohol without a proper license. State code said licenses can be revoked if "the licensee maintains a noisy, lewd, disorderly or unsanitary establishment or has been supplying impure or otherwise deleterious beverages or food."
State code also says the license can be revoked if "there is any other reason which in the opinion of the Commissioner based on public convenience or necessity warrants canceling or suspending the license."
Cordrey said patio permits are renewed every two years, at the same time business' liquor licenses are renewed.
Bars have to give public notice when they apply, and if 10 or more people living within a mile of the bar complain or voice concerns within 30 days of that application being submitted, the commission must hold a public meeting before approving it.
LOGAN HOUSE RESIGNS FROM HALLOWEEN LOOP
He was inches away from the gunfire at the Logan House as the Halloween Loop ended
After report of gunshots, Kelly's Logan House resigns from Wilmington Halloween Loop
Video: Reporters Jessica Bies, Ryan Cormier talk about the Halloween Loop incident
From the Archives
Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.