Fort Worth bar plans to defy Texas’ ‘unjust shutdown’ order despite coronavirus surge
A Fort Worth bar and live-music venue plans to reopen and host a Fourth of July party to protest the “unjust shutdown” of bars due to coronavirus’ resurgence in Texas.
The party, entitled “Rail Club Tea Party” on Facebook, invites people to “enjoy live music and to defy this unjust shutdown that is destroying the lives of our industry.” It is set to take place at the Rail Club Live at 3101 Joyce Drive near Ridglea Hills from 6 p.m. to midnight on Saturday.
“It is time to stand in solidarity with one another, it is time to end this emotional and financial roller coaster,” owner Chris Polone wrote in a Rail Club statement on June 28. “We will either succeed or we will become martyrs... This is The Rail Club way... It’s time to run head on into the fire...”
Polone spoke with the Star-Telegram via phone on Wednesday from Las Vegas, where he is celebrating his 28th birthday — which is also on the day of the party.
“We’re not trying to upset anybody or get anyone sick or spit on Greg Abbott,” Polone said. “But our back’s against the wall. It’s more for survival purposes than anything.”
Tarrant County code compliance issued a notice to Rail Club Bar on June 29 saying that they should stay closed, code compliance director Brandon Bennett said. They also notified the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission of the bar’s plans.
If the bar opens, “the TABC and Fort Worth police will be notified and additional enforcement measures will be taken,” the notice said.
The emergency shutdown
On Friday, Abbott announced that all bars must close due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the state. Polone said the sudden closure put him and other bar owners in a financial bind because they had stocked up on inventory for the Fourth of July weekend. Rail Club spent $500 to $600 by hiring various bands.
“We were pissed,” Polone said about Abbott’s order. “I almost broke down because we survived COVID once. We had a massive weekend planned, we had been following the rules, but then we woke up to that. No warning, no nothing.”
Coronavirus cases have been surging across the state for several weeks. Hospitalizations of coronavirus patients in Texas reached an all-time high Monday after breaking records nearly every day the previous two weeks. Hospitalizations have risen nearly every day of June, and have more than tripled since Memorial Day.
But bar owners like Polone said the state’s orders have cherry-picked which industries to crack down on to prevent the spread of the virus. On Monday, more than 30 bar owners filed a lawsuit challenging Abbott’s emergency order.
Polone pointed out that venues such as Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor remain open while bars are shuttered. He also said it was hypocritical of Abbott to attend a rally at a crowded Dallas megachurch on Sunday while telling people to stay away from bars. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the rally, where attendees sat close together in pews and many did not wear masks, the Texas Tribune reported.
There is currently no occupancy limit for religious services in Texas.
“We’re starving to death, and it seems like they’re picking and choosing,” Polone said. “We’ve had enough of this financial and emotional roller coaster so we’re going to boycott it.”
Polone said he was a hazmat specialist for 10 years so he know show to safely decontaminate the building. The area will be fogged with a pre-approved CDC germicide and the bar will cap at 80 people, or 50% capacity, he said. They will take people’s temperatures and provide hand sanitizer and require customers to wear masks, he said. As of Wednesday, about 41 people RSVPed they were going, and another 110 said they were interested in attending.
“It’s safer to come to the Rail Club than Walmart,” Polone said.
The Centers for Disease Control disagrees — the agency classifies sitting instead a bar as high risk for spreading and catching coronavirus. The virus is mostly spread by respiratory droplets released when people talk, cough or sneeze, and may spread from contaminated surfaces, the CDC says.
Tarrant County is experiencing a “mini-surge”’ in COVID-19 cases, the city of Fort Worth warned last week. In his emergency order announcement, Abbott said the rise in cases statewide is largely driven by “certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars.”
