For the coming summer weeks of World Cup soccer games, Somerville is allowing temporarily expanded hours of operation. Restaurants, bars and clubs that have alcoholic beverage licenses can opt in for 9 a.m. openings and 3 a.m. closings, with last calls for alcohol at 2 a.m.
The complication of staffing more hours may have some businesses ask for a few specific dates, but “some restaurants may just take the whole month,” said the chair of the Somerville Licensing Commission, Joe Lynch, at its Tuesday meeting. The temporary expansions will be granted for free, but on a short leash that will see privileges taken away for egregious violations.
The global soccer championship that takes place every four years has Boston as one of its 16 host cities. Boston Stadium in Foxboro – formerly Gillette Stadium – hosts seven games between June 13 and July 9, nearly the length of the full June 11-July 19 tourney in which 48 teams compete in 104 total “fixtures.”
Games in Canada, Mexico and the United States can be viewed between 10 a.m. and 1 a.m., but there are four matches globally “well outside of our time zone, and could end as late as 3 a.m.,” Lynch said. Expanded hours will “allow our communities to enjoy this world event with others in our entertainment and dining establishments, and hopefully bring some much needed revenue to our establishments.”
Somerville also allows any of its licensees to stay open until 2 a.m. on New Year’s Eves if they choose, and Lynch said he checked with license commissioners in cities such as Cambridge and Boston to find them taking a similar approach. “I was not inclined to do it the way Rhode Island is doing it – 24/7,” Lynch said. “I kind of think you’re asking for trouble on that one.”
Somerville police representative captain Diogo de Oliveira came to the discussion with the same fears of public disorder expressed by Cambridge officials when preparing in March for the World Cup. He arrived with concerns about and objections to expanded hours from police chief Shumeane Benford – though ultimately not outright opposition.
“We welcome the World Cup, but most importantly we want the residents of Somerville to be safe,” de Oliveira said. The chief is concerned “how this will impact our streets – giving an extra hour, two hours, for people to consume alcoholic beverages and the possibilities of driving impaired and accidents and fights and everything that comes along with that.”
While some New Years Eves pass without incident, “we have to prepare for the worst,” as a drunken-driving call or a serious crash can tie up as many as three officers for an hour or more, and several businesses could hold World Cup watches into early morning hours, de Oliveira said. “We would have to come up with a very strategic plan … an event of this magnitude, that’s going to attract so many spectators. On foot, via motor vehicles, we would have to be prepared and have extra officers on staff.”
Lynch said he understood the concerns, but noted that Somerville holds much larger festivals and events. Licensing staff can also signal to businesses coming forward for expanded hours that public safety enforcement will be tough. “We’ll take the recommendation from the police department to shut it down – shut it down, revoke the permit and it goes on your record,” Lynch said. There will be a two-week check-in on the effect of World Cup events on the city.
“This is something that we would love to be able to provide to the city. We’re not puritanical here,” Lynch said.
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