Sturtevant Sportsplex Could Close Without Liquor License

Whether or not the Sturtevant Sportsplex has its liquor license renewed on June 30 hinges on the outcome of a special board meeting and hearing next week.

Citing too many calls for trouble at the facility, Sturtevant officials in a hand-delivered letter to owners Fernando Bahena and Maximino Miranda let them know the full village board would vote on the matter during a special meeting at 6 p.m. June 25.

If Bahena and Miranda would like the meeting to be a formal hearing on the issues, they must make that request by Friday so the village has time to issue subpoenas for witnesses.

After an off-duty Sturtevant police officer was punched in March by a patron of the dance club inside the Sportsplex, Bahena and his attorney, Jason Luczak, attended a meeting during which they said they were willing to work with the village to solve the security issues there.

"We're fully prepared to address these minor security issues and the way alcohol is served," Luczak said in March. "Fernando will do anything a responsible license holder would do for their business."

The letter makes it clear those issues are on-going and have not been addressed as promised.

"The frequency and the duration of the calls to the Sportsplex, which can last for hours after the facilities' appointed closing time, tie up limited, third-shift law enforcement assets and compromise the safety of the Sturtevant residents, and often the safety of Mt. Pleasant and Racine County residents as well," the letter reads.

A man from Jefferson was intoxicated more than three times the legal limit last month when he refused to leave the Sportsplex, which required a response from Sturtevant police.

"One could infer that since most of these calls occur late at night and early in the morning that alcohol plays a part," said Sturtevant Police Chief Sean Marschke Tuesday. "Certainly we don't experience these kinds of calls earlier in the day when soccer games are played."

Only three years after opening, Bahena has put the building up for sale or lease. A story in The Journal Times also outlines the taxes and water bills owed on the property and cites an ad listing the property as good for industrial use because of its loading docks, 45-foot ceilings and columns spaced 125 feet apart.

Patch was unable to reach either Bahena or Miranda Tuesday night for comment.