LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After a mass shooting early Sunday morning outside a Louisville restaurant operating as a nightclub, the city's mayor is calling for changes to the city's nightlife ordinances.
Currently, Louisville bars are able to operate until 4 a.m. At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Mayor Craig Greenberg said he would work to push closing times up to 2 a.m. in response to the shooting.
"There are too many of these incidents happening in the middle of the night when bars and clubs are the only things still open," Greenberg said.
In Lexington, bars are able to remain open until 2:30 a.m. Efforts have been made in the past year, both by the city and bar owners, to ramp up security during high-traffic times downtown.
In 2022, the city of Lexington unveiled plans to improve public safety near the Tandy Park area.
Changes included additional officers and sheriff's deputies patrolling the area, and additional security cameras and license plate readers.
At Rosebud Bar and Silk's Lounge, bartender Paige Gessner said the bar has significantly stepped up its security efforts to protect patrons and staff in recent months.
The bar has increased its security staffing and pushed last call up to 1:30 a.m.
"You just have to look at the situation and realize you can't control everything, but that little piece that you can control, you have to try. And it's worked for us," Gessner said.
The bar, located just off Short Street in downtown Lexington, is in one of the priority areas for improving safety by the Downtown Lexington Management District.
Gessner said efforts to improve safety seem to be working, and she has noticed a significant decrease in problems downtown.
"We have not had a single issue inside since we made those changes," she said.
After working in the nightlife scene for over 12 years, Gessner said she has become accustomed to hearing about violence outside bars across the board.
"That's the reality we live in, unfortunately," she said.
In Lexington, homicide and shooting rates are down. As of Sunday, Lexington police reported 57 shootings in 2023, compared to 87 this time last year.
The city also reports 15 homicides in 2023, compared to 30 this time last year.
