A Columbus bar that city officials called a magnet for violence has been shut down by court order and boarded up, after a run of shootings and police calls on the city’s Near East Side that included an incident involving a 16-year-old.
Aurora Nightlife, at 1025 E. 5th Ave., has been evicted from the premises and the property boarded up until further notice, City Attorney Zach Klein announced, according to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch. Klein said in a release that his Property Action Team reached an agreement with the Franklin County Municipal Court on Oct. 28 to close the club.
The Dispatch reported that the city’s release pointed to court documents showing a history of liquor code violations and “numerous police runs” to the address, including reports of shots fired, vehicle break-ins, assaults and shootings over the past two weekends — one of which involved a 16-year-old.
“Nightlife cannot come at the expense of public safety,” Klein said in the release, in remarks reported by The Columbus Dispatch. “The City will not tolerate any business that fails to operate safely and legally, and I’m thankful for the Property Action Team for taking swift action to see this magnet for violence shut down.”
Under the court order, the property owners evicted Aurora Nightlife and the bar’s liquor permit “has been placed in safekeeping,” the release states, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The owners also agreed to strict terms for any future tenant in the space, and the bar owner agreed not to open another illegal bar in the city.
Columbus police and the court will conduct regular inspections to make sure the order is followed, the release said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The shutdown follows the pattern the Property Action Team has used against other Columbus properties the city has tied to repeated violence — taking the case to municipal court rather than relying on individual criminal cases alone.
“Nowhere in our city should residents have to worry about violent businesses creating chaos in their neighborhood,” Property Action Team attorney Sophie Yano said in the release, in remarks reported by The Columbus Dispatch. “We continue to urge residents who see problem properties to report them to 311 — and always report criminal activity to law enforcement. Community reports often drive our work to hold owners and landlords accountable.”
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: the bar is closed and boarded, its liquor permit is in safekeeping, and the property is under a court order with regular inspections ahead. What we’re still waiting on: whether any criminal charges grow out of the recent shootings at the address, and what kind of tenant — if any — eventually seeks to reopen the E. 5th Avenue property under the strict terms the owners accepted.
The closure is the latest chapter in a busy stretch for Columbus’s east side, even as the city celebrates new investment elsewhere — from Columbus landing its first nonstop flight to Europe to OhioHealth taking naming rights for the Columbus NWSL club’s training grounds.
What happens next is enforcement: the inspections by Columbus police and the court will test whether the E. 5th Avenue property stays dark and quiet, and any move by a new tenant will have to satisfy the conditions written into the Oct. 28 agreement.