Owners of the iconic Westcott Theater say they will host regularly scheduled shows this weekend after city officials forced it to close for a few days this week due to safety and licensing issues. However, the shutdown has prompted the city auditor to recommend changes in the city’s licensing procedures.
Instances of gunfire and fights outside the 100-year-old theater, as well as a lengthy attempt to get the theater into compliance with the city’s licensing procedures, led to the shutdown. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said several safety issues were also discovered.
"The fire department has identified issues, particularly with egress,” said Walsh. “We've all seen the horrific examples around the country of clubs and bars that have had incidents where a lot of people have been trying to get out at the same time, and when they don't have a clear path to do that, again, the results can be catastrophic. We don't want that to happen here.”
The closing of the theatre has City Auditor Alex Marion suggesting an overhaul of the city’s regulations, which he calls vague and confusing.
"But it should never have gotten to that situation,” Marion said. “If we had a more thoughtful, proactive strategy, one, it comes to license enforcement. We would not have that level of incidents like this happening. What I think is even more important is ensuring that we are preventing problems from happening before they happen."
Marion is releasing a five-point plan based on an audit his department did on the city’s licensing operations. Those points include a proactive policy that contacts businesses that may be out of compliance, as well as increased transparency that would house all lists of businesses or professionals on the city’s Open Data Portal.
