The future of Ichabod’s bar on Chimes Street is questionable.
Owners Scott Frye and Eric Broussard declined to comment about the status of their bar, which has been in business for about two and a half years.
Frye gave some insight into their problems, though, without commenting on whether or not the company will fold.
“We’ve been struggling on a month-to-month basis for about eight months now, and each month we don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
Neighboring bar owners said that one reason for the lack of business is the low amount of people going out at night which could be due to the Tigers winning the national championship.
They said that after a huge fall semester of football and partying, students are tired and the trend of attending nightclubs has deteriorated significantly.
“Our main focus is local music and the scene hasn’t been supported the way it used to be,” Frye said.
Another influence affecting Ichabod’s business is the attitude of young people in Baton Rouge, specifically independence and free thought, he said.
“We have done everything we can to do anything creative, but apparently, originality is not a big thing in this town,” Frye said.
Clarke Cadzow, owner of Highland Coffees, sees Ichabod’s recent struggles as part of the hardship that goes along with starting a business — something Cadzow knows from 14 years of business on Chimes Street.
“A lot of people that start businesses around LSU think that they’ve hit the jackpot and in many cases, that’s not at all true,” he said. “You have to work very hard and execute your plans properly.”
This doesn’t mean that the opposite is true, as Cadzow points to establishments like Chimes, Louie’s Café, and Inga’s Subs & Salads that have done very well for many years.
A major issue affecting Ichabod’s is LSU and city involvement in campus entertainment, Frye said.
He said that LSU’s “Campus Cleanup” rally last semester neglected to clean up Chimes Street and that they were not given a streetlight outside the club after repeated requests.
The safety concern associated with the lighting problem is legitimate because there are “vagabonds and crackheads” that litter the street and campus police allows this type of behavior to carry on, Frye said.
LSUPD Maj. Ricky Adams said that there is an error in Frye’s perception.
“Frye’s business is off-campus and is patrolled by the Baton Rouge Police Department, not LSUPD,” Adams said. “Ichabod’s is out of our perimeter.”
Frye also said the North Gates District Association, which oversees merchants around the north gates, has good ideas but has yet to implement them.
Frye spoke of a proposal in city hall that would allow the bars and nightclubs downtown to be open 24 hours, excluding campus locations such as Ichabod’s.
But Jim Benham, District 12 council member, responded that he has heard of no such proposal.
The influence of the downtown campaign has hurt businesses in and around campus because when patrons migrate, their money follows, Frye said.
He feels that Chimes Street. is “LSU’s red-headed stepchild” because the street does not receive the attention he believes should be given to a campus hangout.
“They talk a lot about what they want to do and what should be done, but they don’t do anything,” Frye said. “LSU doesn’t seem to care.”