INDIANAPOLIS — At least one Broad Ripple business is planning to extend its hours in the village this weekend.
The decision comes more than a month after restaurants and bars there voluntarily adopted a 1 a.m. curfew. It was an attempt to curb violence in the neighborhood following a June shooting where three people were killed and another was injured.
On a Wednesday afternoon along Broad Ripple Avenue, the folks inside Goodfellas Pizzeria are making their signature thin-crust dough.
There's another kind of dough though that's been thin around there this past month — the money kind.
"Our late-night crew got their hours cut back," Goodfellas manager Cole McElroy said. "It's three hours out of their time, and that's the best time for money for them."
That June incident wasn't the first time shots have rang out in the village in the past year.
"Pretty much every Saturday or Sunday it happened," McElroy said.
The 1 a.m. closing time was part of a strategy to curtail that and take the focus off the area.
"I think it's helped somewhat, but it's hard to manage things like that already, but I think it's a step," said Sophia Ankney-Anderson, who thinks the early shut-down time has definitely changed Broad Ripple's party vibe on the weekends. "It just shuts down, you gotta go."
This weekend, though, Goodfellas isn't shutting down early. Their doors will be open until 2:30 a.m.
"It's a trial run to see if we can go back to later nights," McElroy said.
The Broad Ripple Village Association didn't have a comment about what other businesses would be doing this weekend but provided the following statement:
"Our businesses are continuing to adapt to situations and put public safety first while balancing that with running a successful business."
The owner of Average Joes, Mine Shaft and Rock Lobster said he couldn't give a definitive answer on what this weekend's hours would be at any of his establishments, but said he would do what seemed best, given whatever the circumstances are, come this Friday and Saturday.
Many of the other businesses didn't want to comment on what their hours would be this weekend. One topic that did come up with several businesses was how the construction on Broad Ripple Avenue had impacted their bottom lines — even before the 1 a.m. closings.
"We've had months down 20%, down 50%. It just really depends on where it is and what else is going on, but people kind of avoid the area because it's difficult to travel," Union Jack's owner Chelsey Wetzel said.
Wetzel said the early closing didn't affect Union Jack, because its clientele is usually gone by midnight or earlier. Wetzel said she hopes people will continue to come to Broad Ripple, no matter the businesses hours.
"We would really love to see everyone's happy faces in our doors," Wetzel said.
Doors that, at least for Goodfellas Pizzeria, will be open later this weekend.