6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
GASLIGHT (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
contributed photo by Spencer Research Library
Kansas Attorney Gen. Vern Miller (center) filed charges against the original Gailshig Tavenn's owners in 1971 for alleged drug trafficking. Miller claimed undercover agents bought marijuana and smoked it inside the tavern. Dougley County Judge Floyd Coiffel later dismissed the charges. "I am not convinced the proprietors permitted any of their sales to go on with their knowledge." Coiffan ran in a June 28, 1973, Kan article.
Contributed photo by Spencer Research Library
opened a fire hydrant and flipped over a red Volkswagen on Oread Avenue.
Police attempted to quell the mayhem by shooting tear gas into the crowd. Protesters pelted police and firemen with rocks, bricks and tomatoes. A gunfight broke out as people fled south toward the Gaslight Tavern. A stray bullet hit and killed 18-year-old Nick Rice, a Leawood freshman who, according to a 1970 Kansas Alumni article, wasn't involved in the demonstration and was on a date at the time. He was carried inside the Gaslight Tavern where he died before an ambulance could arrive.
City commissioners and Gov. Robert Docking declared a state of emergency. They called in 25 troopers from neighboring areas and enacted a curfew.
KU traffic and security officers manned roadblocks at campus entrances to ensure none of the Lawrence hostility spilled onto campus. After about two weeks, tensions subsided significantly, and the curfew was lifted.
It was never determined what actually happened the night Dowdell was killed. According to a Kansan article from July 24, 1970, "The question of what happened in Lawrence may never be answered to the satisfaction of everyone. But a more important question is the continuing one — 'What is happening in Lawrence?'"
KANSAS CRACKS DOWN
The Gaslight Tavern found itself at the center of another controversy a year later when Kansas Attorney Gen. Vern Miller tried to shut it down for alleged drug trafficking.
Sailor said that marijuana was rampant in Lawrence during the '60s and '70s and that a syndicate known as the Kaw Valley Hemp Pickers grew most of the weed and sold it all over town.
"Things were much more liberal back then," Sailor said. "There was even a huge movement to legalize it at the time."
Coen said marijuana was smoked openly at the original Gaslight. She said she heard stories from former Gaslight regulars about a community bag of weed tacked up near the entrance for smokers to borrow from. A sign near the bag instructed customers to keep it filled with weed donations. Coen said she was unsure whether those stories were true.
Miller tried to close down the tavern for marijuana trafficking after he conducted a citywide drug raid in 1971. He filed charges a month later, asking the Douglas
County District Court to declare the Gaslight a nuisance and shut it down.
marijuana and heroin."
According to an article written in the Kansan on Oct. 27, 1971, then-Lawrence Mayor J.R. Pulliam accused Miller of acting without the authority of city officials.
"As far as I have determined, there is no city ordinance that specifically cites the sale of drugs a reason to declare an establishment a public nuisance." Pulliam said in the article. "The man is enforcing laws, but I do wish people would realize the difference between
Douglas County Court Judge Floyd Coffman eventually dismissed the charges after a hearing, saying the state's evidence did not prove that the owners of the Gaslight knowingly participated in illegal activities at the tavern.
THE GASLIGHT BURNS DOWN
TRAGLIT-BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL
PROVIDES FREE, TEN-DAY TRIPS TO ISRAEL FOR JEWISH YOUNG ADULTS AGES
18 TO 26
TAGLIT • לולאה
BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL
birth.birthrightael.com
The University bought the lease to the tavern in 1974 with the intentions of tearing it down because University administrators saw it as a nuisance, Coen said. The tavern inexplicably burned down the day the University took it over on July 15, 1974. No one knows exactly how it happened but according to the legend, Coen said, students burned it down as a way of protesting the University's takeover.
"I'm really not sure whether the legend is true or not, but it's a cool way of remembering the Gaslight Tavern," she said.
"The owner wanted to create a place where the spirit of the old Gaslight lived on," Coen said. "I believe it has served its purpose."
Coen said she would always remember the new Gaslight Tavern as a place where anyone could drink, listen to music and feel comfortable. The bar, she said, featured an atmosphere that fostered open-mindedness.
THE GASLIGHT TODAY
The present-day Gaslight Tavern has featured hundreds of bands in its six-year lifetime, including nationally recognized bands such as The Shins, Carlos D. and Bus Driver. It regularly featured such local bands as Deadman Flats, Truckstop Honeymoon and Murphy's Law. Coen said the tavern served as a jumping point for local bands to start their careers.
Alex Law, guitarist and lead singer of Deadman Flats, said his band played its first show at the tavern and had since played shows all over Kansas. He said he periodically returned to play at the Gaslight Tavern, which he considered his favorite bar.
"The place is small so you could have only 20 or 30 people here, and it gets rowdier than larger venues," Law said before performing at the tavern on Sept. 22. "When this place closes, it will be like a huge chunk of Lawrence is gone."
Before the bar shuts down, Coen said she's encouraging bands that have historically played at the Gaslight Tavern to play in farewell shows that will feature in the months ahead.
She said student bands that are interested in playing can contact her at the Gaslight Tavern's Web site on MySpace.
— Edited by Lauren Keith
Contributed photo by Spencer Research Library
Contributed photo by Spencer Research Library
Contributed photo by Spencer Research Library
Contributed photo by Spencer Research Library
Julianne Kueffer/KANSAN
Deadman Flats performs in the Winfield Hangover Party at the Gaslight Tavern on Sept. 22, Alex Law, guitarist and lead singer (far right), said his band played its first concert at the tavern. "When this place closes, it will be like a huge chunk of Lawrence is gone," Law said.