Duval County

‘It won’t pay the bills’: Bar owners open to 50%, worry that’s not enough

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida bar owners are breathing a small sign of relief over the news they can open Monday to half capacity. However, some Jacksonville bars worry that still won’t pay the bills.

Randy Martin owns Bald Eagle Pub in Wesconnett. The bar closed down in March and opened briefly in June before shutting back down.

“Seven months of closing is a long, long time. Longer than we ever expected,” Martin said. “It’s huge. To be able to open up and feel some normalcy. We’re able to get back to what we were doing before.”

Governor Ron DeSantis made the announcement last week. All bars can open to 50% capacity. At Bald Eagle Pub, that means 47 people. The owner also expanded seating in the patio. Outdoor areas can be seated to full capacity, which would bring in an extra 38 at Bald Eagle.

After closing down, Martin said he lost most of his employees and is now training his new hires on CDC cleaning guidelines.

“In this industry, they make so much money and it’s good money. For them to go out and find a job equal to this is hard,” Martin said. “Amazon is hiring. All my folks I had went there — I lost a great manager now.”

Martin now urges the governor to allow opening to a larger capacity with a set of guidelines they must follow.

“Let us prove to the Governor; prove to the state that we know how to do this. We know how to stay clean and get our business running. Let’s get back to normalcy again.”