It took understanding each other’s positions and a determination to work together, but the owners of the Prudence Lodge Square Club and residents of homes nearby have found a way to quell complaints about noise emanating from the building on Walker Road.
A Masonic organization, the Prudence Lodge often rents out its Square Club facility for parties and other functions, gatherings that often got out of hand when it came to noise.
In addition to loud bass music coming from inside the building, nearby Fox Hall residents had to deal with the din of people yelling and cursing in the Square Club’s parking lot and the racket of motorcycles — some owned by those hired to provide security — being continually revved outside.
Police responding to these complaints also observed drug transactions and people urinating outside, said Lt. Paul Bernat, commander of the Dover Police Department’s patrol unit.
“It was bad, there’s no doubt about it,” Bernat said.
But as recently as DSU’s Homecoming festivities in late October, which were held in the Square Club, there were no noise complaints, Bernat said. The one problem called in to Dover Police was quickly traced to the nearby Walker Woods neighborhood, he said.
An initial meeting
Work on fixing the problem began with a meeting in July between Fox Hall residents and Square Club owners and operators. An August gathering formulated a series of agreements that included:
- Banning motorcycles after 8 p.m.
- Hiring off-duty Dover Police officers for security and enforcing a no-loitering policy
- Posting signs prohibiting trespassing after 2 a.m. and an agreement allowing Dover Police to make arrests there after 2 a.m.
- Looking at installing gates to prevent trespassers from coming on to the property.
- Police increasing patrols along Walker Road while the club is open.
- A system to allow area residents to contact Square Club owners directly in the event noise gets too loud.
At a third meeting Nov. 3, everyone concurred the agreement was working pretty much as planned.
“It’s been a great change,” said Prudence Lodge Worshipful Master Dave Williams. “Having the Dover Police Department out there has been a great change.”
State Sen. Brian Bushweller, D-Dover, said instead of getting complaints from constituents, he had instead received an email noting how the racket had died down over the past several months.
“I think it’s good,” Bushweller said. “The police’s attitude has been that they’re not out to get someone. It’s that people can go out and have fun and others can have their peace and quiet.”
“The results speak for themselves,” agreed state Rep. Darryl M. Scott, who with Bushweller and fellow Dover Democrat Rep. E. Brad Bennett, had helped work out the pact.
With the agreement apparently working, and with the winter months generally considered a quieter time at the Square Club, those at the Nov. 3 meeting decided they’d get together again only if problems cropped up in the future.
“It just goes to show what can be done when we all work together,” noted Dover Mayor Carleton E. Carey Sr.
Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.
