After receiving two tickets from the Indiana State Excise Police for two counts of minor loitering, Club Fever announced in a Facebook post Saturday that two forms of identification will be required for entrance. The nightclub in downtown South Bend is a popular location with Notre Dame, Saint Mary's and other local college students on Thursday nights.
“From now on, we will be requiring two forms of identification. If your ID is from a state that is known for fraudulent IDs, we may ask you to provide proof of address to accompany your IDs,” the post stated. “This was triggered by an abundance of social media posts and blogs regarding a leniency by one or more of our doormen regarding fake IDs. Excise saw enough bragging and gloating posts that they took action and ticketed us and arrested a few students for fraudulent identification.”
Club owner Dee Davis said in an email the club has “always sought to provide a fun, yet safe place for a large number of local college students to gather off campus.”
“The students have been good to us through their support over the years, and we have tried to return the favor by holding a fair pricing structure, tons of security, quality entertainment, shuttle busses and a large, safe venue. We will continue as we have — and even have some big entertainment announcements to make — while being more diligent in our scrutiny of proof of age provided to us at the entrance,” he said.
The post encouraged students to continue practicing safe drinking behavior.
“We know that many of you who will no longer be able to attend student nights will be going to more house parties and such. We hope you will remain safe and aware at these parties. Remember, you will not have a staff of 20 security personnel, professional bartenders, off duty cops and caring management to look out for you. Please take care of yourselves as we don't want to see any of you hurt. Make sure you know exactly what goes into your glass, and don't ever let it out of your sight,” it stated.
This isn't the first time Davis said the club would crack down on underage drinking. In March 2014, the club instituted new safety and emergency policies, after a shooting occurred near the intersection of Michigan and Wayne streets, and also raised concerns regarding patrons' use of fraudulent IDs.
