A fire alarm at the Den on Sat., Feb 22 caused some University of Calgary students to worry about their safety. Although about half the crowd left the bar immediately, several people remained in the bar and had to be told to leave by Den staff.
Questions were raised regarding the incident, particularly in the wake of the Rhode Island nightclub fire that resulted in the deaths of 98 club-goers.
Despite that isolated incident, the Students’ Union continues to make drinking safer for Den patrons.
Since the implementation of the Secureclub program which scans identification cards and flags anyone who has been banned from another affiliated bar, the amount of violence and other problems in the Den has decreased.
“There haven’t been any major incidents,” claimed SU Vice-President Operations and Finance Robbie White. “In theory, [Secureclub] could have stopped major incidents.”
According to SU Food, Beverage and Events Director Greg Stephenson, Den security catches “someone banned from another bar about once a month. We did have a lot more than that when we first implemented Secureclub, but everyone knows we have Secureclub, so that probably deters people from even trying to get in.”
The list of other major Calgary venues that use Secureclub includes such establishments as Cowboys.
Vice-President Events Irene Enyedy noted that the SU has received inquiries from at least one other university in Canada as to how successful Secureclub is.
“Most students comply,” Enyedy added. “They don’t seem to be bothered at all. [But] a couple people feel their privacy is not there anymore.”
Other steps the SU has taken in improving Den patrons’ safety includes the removal of glass bottles, limiting beverage conveyances to cans, plastic cups and glasses.