After All That [Texas Relays Weekend]

Killercorn/Flickr

The hubbub caused by the news of the Saturday afternoon closing of Highland Mall and proposed Relays weekend closure of a couple downtown clubs has still not completely silenced, but police have released the arrest and citation numbers for downtown this past weekend and the numbers are less than in past years. There were 25 arrests and citations in the downtown area this Relays weekend (compared to 46 in 2008 and 39 in 2007). That number is less than half that of either Mardi Gras (57 arrests/citations) or the last two days of SxSW this year (52 arrests/citations).

Emo's ended up staying open, with owner Frank Hendrix releasing a statement saying that although live music was not booked, the plan was never to close the club completely for the weekend:

Emo’s management made a financially-based decision to refrain from booking live music during this weekend, as history has shown us that attendance in previous years is low and the revenue we receive is approximately 20% of what it would be during an average weekend. This leaves us unable to cover our expenses, including payment of the bands and our staff. Throughout these tough economic times, we must evaluate each day of operations from a financial perspective and regretfully cannot justify running our stages this weekend. Additionally, although we will not be hosting live music, it was never announced nor was it ever our intention to close the inside bar at Emo’s. It has remained open all week and will continue to be open throughout the weekend to all patrons.

The Saturday afternoon closing of Highland Mall has led the NAACP's Austin chapter to stage a boycott of the mall, with a protest planned for this Saturday. The commander of APD's north branch told the Statesman that there is typically not more crime at Highland Mall during Relays weekend than any other time of the year. The traffic caused by the Relays seems to be the larger issue for APD.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Elizabeth S. in News on April 7, 2009 12:00 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Grape Ape

Does anyone have the attendance numbers for the 3 events being compared? I'm guessing SXSW is 4-5 times larger (if not more than that) of Relays and Mardi Gras is at least double. I'm also curious as to what the police populations are during the events.

oh steph

I bet if anyone actually went into the bars during Texas Relays there would be more mayhem a la Mardi Gras/SXSW Music. I've never seen so many people just standing around on frontage roads in my life!

seth

Highland Mall needs to invest in a good PR rep. Closing the mall and blaming it on 'safety' was an ugly stance to take.

The real issue that no one would have argued is that Highland Mall is a private property owner who carries a liability. During Texas Relays, so many people have congregated in the Highland Mall parking lot, it's become an informal event without organizers or structure. Gatherings of that size typically require event insurance, porta-potties, security, etc. Instead, Relays visitors have depended on Highland's infrastructure to support their gatherings.

The mall could have dealt with the liability issue by simply booting people out of the mall parking lot for loitering. Closing the mall was ridiculously reactionary.

Hopefully next year the city or some other entity will organize a Relays gathering area where people can show off their cars & motorcycles and compete in step dancing competitions, etc. The Relays visitors should be treated as welcomed guests in our city. Unlike the ROT Biker Rally, they don't spread throughout Austin creating noise and contributing to our traffic congestion.

Seth