Leticia Cline, owner and operator of The Dive bar in Cave City, stands in her bar amid a global pandemic that has shattered many local economies and forced small businesses to close their doors.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
CAVE CITY, Ky. – Another mandate from state officials has closed bars across the commonwealth, and employees at The Dive bar are unsure what will happen next. Better yet, those that frequent the business have lost an important part of their lives.
Leticia Cline, owner and operator of The Dive, said the pandemic has caused several concerns.
The Dive opened in Cave City in May 2019, and the establishment has been a place for many in the quaint community to engage in social enjoyment. However, the business has faced challenges since its inception.
“Now we’re the only bar in town,” Cline said. “Being a bar that’s right directly across the street from a church in a town that just went wet four years ago – I mean, there’s been uphill battles that we fought to be here.”
Now the battle has taken a new approach – a pandemic has shut the place down.
The Dive is a bar, not a restaurant. No food is served at the establishment, thus the “bar mandate” put into effect by Gov. Andy Beshear closed the business.
Cline said the economic impact becomes a burden for the business but also the city.
“We pay a lot in taxes to be here,” Cline said. “We pay 14% in taxes just to be a bar. I don’t think a lot of people realize that.”
The Dive pays 5% more than restaurants in taxes, which directly funds the police and fire departments.
“The amount of money that we pay back to the area really helps sustain our area,” Cline said. “I mean, it gives us our roads, our tax dollars, our infrastructure. Everything really comes from sitting here having a drink at my bar.”
As a small business, Cline said the closure has a greater impact. But the glimpse of hope after she reopened diminished with a second closure.
“It’s this balance of are we going to be open? Should we spend $23,000 on a roof? Should we hold onto it?” Cline said. “It looked like we were going to be open, so we got a new roof. And now we’re closed again. So, the second wave is scarier than the first.”
Eleven people were on staff before the first closure on March 16. All employees did not return due to limited capacity and shortened hours with the second reopening.
The future is more uncertain with a second closure.
Cline said several people frequent the bar because of its social relevance.
Talks. Laughs. Stories. Cries. Celebrations.
“It really affects people who suffer from mental health, which is an illness that affects so many people’s lives,” Cline said. “Way more than the pandemic is.”
Cline said The Dive did “Zoom bar” sessions, which was a virtual social experience.
“They would just talk about how great it is to see our faces and how they’ve missed us,” Cline said. “And how they’re so lonely. They’d be so excited on the phone, and they’d constantly ask us ‘when is our next Zoom bar?’”
Cline said the mandate has caused because her regulars, who she calls friends, depend on the bar to be a place of gathering and socialization.
Given that bars are the only establishments forced to close, the mandate appears to be unfair, Cline said.
“It’s a community virus. It’s not a restaurant and bar virus. It’s not a protest virus, and it’s not a Democrat or Republican virus,” Cline said. “It affects everyone.”
The Governor’s mandate is in effect through Aug. 11 – two weeks from when the mandate was issued.