PEARL LOUNGE LOSES LICENCE FOR 70 DAYS

Inspectors Cite Overcrowding Patrons Found Smoking Pot

Ontario's alcohol and gaming commission has slapped a bar in the
Entertainment District with one of its stiffest penalties -- ordering the
Pearl Lounge to stop serving alcohol for 70 days after inspections found
overcrowding, drunk patrons and people smoking pot in the club.

Short of revoking the licence of the popular Richmond St. W. nightclub, the
suspension of the club's liquor licence from tomorrow until May is the
severest penalty the commission can hand down, said spokesperson Ab Campion.

The average penalty the commission issues is between five and 21 days, he said.

In its decision released this week, the commission said:

The club, which has a capacity of 538 people, was found on six occasions
between December 2003 and October 2004 to have hundreds more people on the
premises than allowed. On one occasion there were 818 patrons in the Pearl
Lounge, the commission said.

Inspections found drunk people consuming liquor in the club, and that on
Dec. 11, 2004 people were "openly smoking marijuana" inside the nightclub.

On numerous occasions light meals and liquor menus weren't available even
though the law requires it.

The nightclub, which had its licence revoked for 30 days in 2003 for
similar infractions, is open only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Randall Barrs, the lawyer representing the bar, said the owners will use
the suspension period to carry out renovations and hire better security staff.

In one instance, the commission said, security staff chased two patrons out
of the bar and assaulted them.

In another case a baton was used on a patron.

When it reopens, Barrs said, the owners will try to have the liquor licence
changed to allow more patrons in the club.

"There has to be physical changes made at the facility to do that so that
(overcrowding) doesn't become a recurring problem," Barrs said.

The commission has also ordered the Pearl Lounge to hire bonded security
guards and install video cameras at the exit and entrance to the club.

Each day's video must be kept for a month, the commission said.

The Entertainment District has been the subject of ongoing problems with
overcrowding, unruly patrons, and in some cases, drug use.

Earlier this year it was the focus of allegations of police corruption
involving the alleged shakedown of bar owners by certain officers.

Investigators have laid both criminal and police act charges against
several officers, some of whom once patrolled the district.