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A Pittsburgh bar was deemed a nuisance for many years. Prostitution, drug gross sales and different prison exercise all befell proper close to a church. That church, Allegheny Center Alliance Church took an uncommon leap to make a distinction in its north facet group. You may even name it radical. Back in 2007, enterprise house owners and residents complained that extreme crime related to the native bars was destroying their neighborhood and enterprise district.One bar particularly was the kingpin: Rebels Bar.“When rebels bar was here, it was a rowdy bar,” mentioned Bruce Klein, who owned Bernie’s Photo Center, “You had people hanging out on the streets.”Barbara Burns, the proprietor of Sweet Time General Store, was so fed up she led a neighborhood push to have the bar stripped of its liquor license and shut down after it was declared a nuisance bar.She nonetheless has a stack of authorized paperwork from Commonwealth Court. And there are paperwork that element testimony at liquor management enforcement public hearings in opposition to Rebels Bar.“I’ve watched people walk out of that bar with blood running down their head, get in their car, try to run people over,” Burns mentioned. Some of the testimony on the LCE hearings got here from Pittsburgh police crime prevention group relations. 1998 and 1999, police say there have been 34 911 calls about Rebels Bar. Police made 10 arrests.Each time the bar modified possession throughout the household, its monitor file was cleaned and it remained open.“What he was trying to do in our view was eliminate the citation history,” Burns mentioned.That’s when Allegheny Center Alliance Church got here into the image. Executive Pastor Blaine Workman led the church on a daring initiative to close down the bar.“We asked people on this street, ‘How can we be a blessing to this neighborhood?’ They said, ‘Help us close Rebels Bar,” Workman instructed Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. So in 2009, the church purchased the bar and its liquor license $200,000, then they shut it down instantly.“When you think about bringing blessing to this community for god’s glory, this was a step that made sense, and it’s had an impact,” Workman mentioned.Rebels Bar sat at 510 East Ohio St., but it surely was torn down.“Today, Allegheny City Brewery uses the space to provide free music on weekends. East Ohio Street has taken on a new look since the demolition of Rebels Bar.“Until you eliminated that problem, no one was going to come in and invest here,” Workman mentioned, “No one wanted to be part of the community.”“Now you have a whole new crop of businesses coming in,” Klein mentioned. “You have restaurants coming in, you have people that will come down to the North Side that have never been here before.”
A Pittsburgh bar was deemed a nuisance for many years. Prostitution, drug gross sales and different prison exercise all befell proper close to a church. That church, Allegheny Center Alliance Church took an uncommon leap to make a distinction in its north facet group. You may even name it radical.
Back in 2007, enterprise house owners and residents complained that extreme crime related to the native bars was destroying their neighborhood and enterprise district.
One bar particularly was the kingpin: Rebels Bar.
“When rebels bar was here, it was a rowdy bar,” mentioned Bruce Klein, who owned Bernie’s Photo Center, “You had people hanging out on the streets.”
Barbara Burns, the proprietor of Sweet Time General Store, was so fed up she led a neighborhood push to have the bar stripped of its liquor license and shut down after it was declared a nuisance bar.
She nonetheless has a stack of authorized paperwork from Commonwealth Court. And there are paperwork that element testimony at liquor management enforcement public hearings in opposition to Rebels Bar.
“I’ve watched people walk out of that bar with blood running down their head, get in their car, try to run people over,” Burns mentioned.
Some of the testimony on the LCE hearings got here from Pittsburgh police crime prevention group relations. 1998 and 1999, police say there have been 34 911 calls about Rebels Bar. Police made 10 arrests.
Each time the bar modified possession throughout the household, its monitor file was cleaned and it remained open.
“What he was trying to do in our view was eliminate the citation history,” Burns mentioned.
That’s when Allegheny Center Alliance Church got here into the image. Executive Pastor Blaine Workman led the church on a daring initiative to close down the bar.
“We asked people on this street, ‘How can we be a blessing to this neighborhood?’ They said, ‘Help us close Rebels Bar,” Workman instructed Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
So in 2009, the church purchased the bar and its liquor license $200,000, then they shut it down instantly.
“When you think about bringing blessing to this community for god’s glory, this was a step that made sense, and it’s had an impact,” Workman mentioned.
Rebels Bar sat at 510 East Ohio St., but it surely was torn down.
“Today, Allegheny City Brewery uses the space to provide free music on weekends. East Ohio Street has taken on a new look since the demolition of Rebels Bar.
“Until you eliminated that problem, no one was going to come in and invest here,” Workman mentioned, “No one wanted to be part of the community.”
“Now you have a whole new crop of businesses coming in,” Klein mentioned. “You have restaurants coming in, you have people that will come down to the North Side that have never been here before.”
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