Local Watering Hole Runs Afoul of Fargo City Officials

In booming downtown Fargo, North Dakota it's tough to expand your successful business. Most buildings already fill the lots on which they were built and sit cheek-and-jowl with their neighbors. That was the problem facing Bert and Klaus Meyers, owners of popular Dempsey's Public House on Broadway.

What is the owner of a burgeoning enterprise to do? At Dempsey's they decided to relocate storage and expand into basement. With The Aquarium upstairs, the bar then filled all three floors of the building that the Meyers brothers rescued from decline when the Fargo chapter of the Moose Lodge moved out four years ago.

A bigger kitchen and another bar would help handle the influx of new customers that came with Klai Hall, the new North Dakota State University building housing the School of Business three blocks away. But the gents at Dempsey's forgot one minor step in the process of updating and furnishing the basement of their building: approval from the city.

According to the local building department they were alerted by a complaint from a patron. On September 17, 2010 building inspectors ordered Dempsey's to shut down the lower level expansion until the building code, health, and fire departments have had a chance to approve the work and any necessary changes.

Of concern is both the safety of the food and drinks and the ability of people to escape the basement in case of a fire. When they changed how the lower level was used and increased the occupant load of the establishment, the owners may have triggered light, ventilation, and fire sprinkler requirements as well that must be met before the basement may be filled with revelers.

Because the building stands in a row of connected structures that runs the whole block, Meyers cannot add windows or a second exit to meet such safety requirements. Any electrical or heating work done by the Meyers or other amateurs requires certification by state-licensed contractors.

It remains to be seen whether the Meyers brothers can find a solution to satisfy Fargo officials and allow him to entertain patrons in the basement of his building.

Plans for remodeling the lower level into a banquet room were submitted to the Building Inspections Department a week after it was ordered closed. In the mean time, The Aquarium will continue hosting live music upstairs and the main floor of Dempsey's will remain its old, crowded self.

City of Fargo Submitted Plans List