It’s been nearly four months since a massive fire consumed the front portion of the Kozy Bar & Apartment building in downtown Duluth, leaving it closed and without tenants.
Adam Bohlmann, owner of Pawn Duluth across the street told Eyewitness News, the closure of the Kozy has resulted in less neighborhood crime, making work much easier. “Since the fire, this is just a regular block like any other block downtown,” he said. “No problems, no drug dealers, no prostitutes. That was a regular thing.”
Bohlmann said he would watch the crime happen through his business’ windows. He said it took a toll on business. “You know, you get the older, middle-class lady who is afraid to stop because there is a crowd of thugs on the street,” he said.
But since the fire, he said all that has changed. Bohlmann credits the closing of the Kozy for the drop in crime and Duluth Police Department records seem to back up that impression.
Eyewitness News looked at the number of police calls to the 12 blocks surrounding the Kozy, and compared the two and a half months before and after the fire. The calls dropped from 839, to 332.
Officer Russ Bradley has patrolled the area for 4 years. He remembers the trouble before the fire. “There were a lot of disturbances, a lot of intoxicated people both walking around and walking in the street where traffic is,” he said.
Police speculate another reason for the fewer calls is the winter season. But there were 332 calls this winter, compared to 607 last winter when the Kozy was still open.
In recent months, Officer Bradley said there is no doubt these streets have been much quieter.
“There is not as much foot traffic,” Bradley said. “There used to be a lot of people that would stand right across the street, right in front of the Kozy, a lot. It was quite a populated corner.”
But will the improvement continue?
The director of the Encounter, a youth center near the Kozy, said he used to see crime from his window on the building’s second story. While crime is down for now, he said he is curious to see if that changes when the weather warms up.
In response to the findings, Dr. Eric Ringsred, the owner of the Kozy Bar & Apartment building said, the numbers don’t lie. He said it makes sense that police calls are fewer because since the fire, the area has been clear of people.
By: Alan Hoglund
ahoglund@wdio.com
