Since it opened this summer, Dana Kelly’s downtown restaurant has faced numerous governmental roadblocks and obstacles that officials say are related to coronavirus restriction violations.
In its latest move, the Health Department of St.Louis issued an order Dec. 15 that Kelly close her restaurant, Reign, at 1122 Washington Ave., for a year after allegedly violating two COVID-19 orders during the weekend of Dec. 12. Fredrick Echols, acting director of health, wrote that the restaurant was in violation of not observing social distancing and not requiring all people inside the building to wear masks.
The closure was effective for a year unless all of the following conditions are met sooner: the COVID-19 positivity rate is at or below 5% in the city for 30 consecutive days; the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available for the general population and the city reaches herd immunity; and the pandemic has been declared over by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The downtown restaurant opened for business and employs 70 people.
Kelly’s lawyer, Jonathan Lerman, said he believes Kelly is being targeted because it serves a predominately Black clientele in a predominantly white neighborhood. He believes this because, he said, the anonymous tips the Health Department is citing regarding Reign aren’t so anonymous.
Lerman also pointed to what happened to the Wheel House, at 1000 Spruce St., was to close only 30 days after its third COVID-19 related violation.
“So how does 30 days turn into a full year? What’s the difference between Wheelhouse and Reign, at the end of the day?” Lerman asked.
In addition, Lerman sued the city in mid August after Reign received a letter ordering Kelly to halt operations for two weeks — two weeks after its grand opening. The city and Kelly reached an agreement that the lawsuit would be dismissed if Reign was up and running without issue or interference for 30 days.
Lerman said he filed to dismiss the lawsuit in early October.
“Two days later, we get another two-week shutdown notice from the Health Department for allegations that dated all the way back to Sept. 4 or 5,” he said. “Which means, apparently, according to them, there have been violations going on for a month, although we still haven’t seen any evidence to support that and we have asked multiple times.”
Both Kelly and Lerman believe the continued orders to close are also connected to Kelly’s intention to run for mayor. Kelly confirmed Tuesday that she plans to file to be on the ballot within a week.
“I think we are familiar with the way that politics have run locally in St. Louis for generations, I won’t speculate but we see the past is defining the present,” Kelly said.
As for the letter Dec. 15, Lerman noted Kelly had rented the space out to recording artist Toosii2x with the understanding he was going to use the large patio to film a music video.
When Kelly arrived to check in on the space, she found Toosii2x and his group instead hosting a concert and violating social distancing and mask wearing mandates. She said she ordered him out immediately and called in her staff to do a deep clean.
“What’s not being said is that not one case of COVID has been traced back to my restaurant,” she said.
Echols did not return a call for comment. Lerman confirmed Echols denied his request Monday afternoon to lift the closure order so Reign could resume business and said there would be a hearing to contest that decision next week.
“We have opened up after each hearing, because we haven’t done anything wrong,” Kelly said.