With rodeo fan crowds, Stockyards bars cajole on masks, find mixed success on compliance
The music volume dipped several times an hour Friday night, and a voice of admonition instead filled the speakers at a Stockyards bar where a line formed at the door.
The public health interludes at The New PR’s were necessary because of a clash of nightlife and pandemic. An increasingly exasperated bar employee tried to cajole.
“We cannot afford to get shut down again, guys,” he said. “So, once again, if you are standing up, please put your mask on.”
The bar, like others in the tourist zone, appeared to have drawn its crowds from people who were in the region for the National Finals Rodeo competition that continues this week at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
It was acceptable if seated drinkers at the North Main Street bar were without a mask. But standing, walking and dancing are all activities that require face coverings, and convincing everyone to heed that direction proved difficult.
In a corner, men planning the trajectory of pool balls were frequent offenders.
The warnings via speaker continued.
“Gentlemen at the pool table ...”
“Help me out ... “
“I hate to do it ...”
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in June suspended for 30 days the license held by the bar, whose marquee announces that “our beer is colder than your ex’s heart.” The agency said The New PR’s, which is also known as PR’s Saloon, violated state reopening guidelines that sought to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The New PR’s exceeded on June 20 the 50% state indoor occupancy limit, according to the suspension order.
During the rodeo, the city has closed to vehicles West Exchange Avenue for three blocks west of North Main Street and for six blocks to its east to give pedestrians space to walk at a distance from others and not crowd sidewalks.
Teams of employees from the city of Fort Worth code compliance, police and fire departments have worked since the coronavirus pandemic emerged to monitor business observance of occupancy restrictions and customer behavior on face cover use. The teams have reviewed operations at businesses in the Stockyards during the rodeo. The city has hoped for voluntary business compliance and has infrequently taken enforcement action via citation.
A recent increase in coronavirus hospitalizations in the region led to the closure of bars that do not have a restaurant permit, but many bars in the Stockyards and elsewhere in Fort Worth have permits and are continuing to operate at 50% capacity.
The inspection groups saw a bit of a citywide increase in the number of business patrons just before Thanksgiving, said Brandon Bennett, the city’s health and code compliance director. Still, bar-restaurant occupancy violations are unusual, he said. The problem is patrons.
The final hour and a half of operations, an often drunken period between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m., is the most problematic on the face covering front.
“It’s an ongoing struggle,” said Bennett, whose teams have found that people, nearly without exception, have masks but choose not wear them.
In the Stockyards on Thursday and Friday night last week, few people used face coverings as they walked outdoors, but pulled masks from pockets or slid bandannas in place as they prepared to enter a bar.
Steps from the rodeo at Globe Life Field last Thursday night, people trickled into a bar area to watch the first night of events.
The area outside the bars was a mixture of cowboys and Christmas, with decorations gated behind signs for the rodeo.
Over dinner plates and drinks, tables of onlookers watched bucking horses on television.
Nursing an energy drink, Gabe Davis watched from the bar area while he waited for friends who bought tickets for seats inside the stadium. Davis, from San Jose, California, said he decided at the last minute to travel with his friends and meet after the competition.
While COVID-19 case numbers are surging in Tarrant County, Davis said that the evening felt more relaxed than in his home state.
“It’s more cautious there,” he said.
People who were not seated, eating or drinking were required to wear masks, although some charging phones near bathrooms kept them off.
Signs such as “No mask, no dice” greeted guests at the front of the bars.
Staff writer Kailey Broussard contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
