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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Parking garage music serenades downtown patrons
Downtown patrons heading to Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers, Century Bar, Hammerjax and other businesses in the area of the Greater Dayton RTA Hub may notice a new soundtrack in the air.
The music, complete with yodeling, is being played at a serious volume from the covered area in front of the entrance to Air City parking garage on South Jefferson Street. A Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers employee confirmed that the bar management is not responsible for the music.
The garage entrance sits in a pedestrian heavy area between Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers and the RTA Hub. The new hub has been blamed for an increase in loitering and illegal activity around the restaurant that nearly led to a city recommendation that the owner’s liquor license be revoked.
I wasn’t able to talk to anyone in charge of the garage Wednesday evening, but it would appear that the property owners are trying to discourage loitering in front of the garage entrance.
Or maybe they are just really big yodeling fans trying to spread the love.
The reaction to the music, which has been playing seemingly non-stop for about a week, has been mixed.
The staff and patrons at Century Bar didn’t seem fazed by the tunes, while RTA patrons were either turned off or determined to tune it out.
If the goal was to drive people away, it appeared to be working Wednesday night as only a few people took shelter from the rain anywhere near the garage entrance where several mounted speakers are located.
I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but I didn’t find the music that awful. Take a listen for yourself: MP3 of Parking Garage Music
However, I will say the volume may be too loud for late-night hours. A resident of the St. Clair Lofts confirmed that the music is clearly audible from the far end of the Price Stores parking lot across Jefferson Street. I can only assume that apartments facing that lot are within earshot.
The noise obviously annoyed some people enough to contact the Dayton Police Department. So many calls had come in about the music by 10:30 p.m. Wednesday that a note was sent to dispatchers to stop sending officers on the noise complaints. There was nothing officers could do to turn off the music while the parking garage was closed.
Since I imagine the local businesses and the police department are tired of getting calls about music they don’t control, here’s the phone number for the parking garage: (937) 461-2916.
Give ‘em a call to complain or thank them for the lovely public dance party.
What do you think? Is parking garage music your new fave? Are there other, less noisy ways to control unwanted loitering downtown?
NOTE: Earlier, this entry referred to the music as polka.
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