Pocono News Section

Meeting Held to Discuss Bar's Role in Violence

Meeting Held to Discuss Bar's Role in Violence - Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 5:30PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Tuesday, Nov 3, 2009 @ 05:30pm EST
HAZLETON, LUZERNE COUNTY -- A controversial Hazleton nightclub will be shut down if city officials get their way.

La Cantina in center city has been the focus of shootings and fights recently. The city says it’s a nuisance bar and should be closed.

The police are not pulling any punches. There is no love lost for La Cantina. Now they want to hear from the people who live and work near the nightclub.

La Cantina is located at the intersection of North Wyoming and Green Street and some say it’s nothing but trouble.

La Cantina has been open for about a year and it's earned quite a reputation, and it’s not a good one. In October there was huge fight and shooting outside the place. In July another man was shot nearby and police say some of those involved were customers of La Cantina.

The Chamber of Commerce organized this meeting to get input about how they feel about La Cantina. Most here agreed it is a problem.

Business owner Melody Fuller said, "Everyone is afraid to come to downtown Hazleton. I'm two blocks away. I have quite a few of my customers say they are just afraid to even in the daytime to come anywhere near downtown Hazleton."

Even those who haven't had a problem with the nightclub have concerns about the city's reputation. Business owner Joe Scarcella said, "I think the whole thing comes down to image. The image of downtown Hazleton, we're trying to project a good image and stop anything that's going to put a block in front of that."

The police say there's no way around it, crime is connected to La Cantina. Chief Robert Ferdinand said, "Based on real incidents there, things that have happened, I think the bar could have done things better, been more strict as far as the type of clients they allow engaged in violent activity outside the place."

The owners of La Cantina were not at Tuesday's meeting, but they told Eyewitness News several weeks ago that they try to run a clean operation and can't control what happens outside the place.