Part I of this series talks about the Great Handbill Crackdown. Part II is all about the Malling of Tombstone. In Part III we learned it is now illegal to walk down the streets of Tombstone in “authentic” historic costume.
Can it get any worse?
What about the great Six Gun City Shoot-out?
Will justice triumph?
Will the quest for authenticity sink Tombstone?
Stay tuned….
Tombstone was known for its fine dining, chefs, and extravagant restaurants. All of that changed on May 25, 1882 when a devastating fire roared down Allen street, destroying almost every “downtown” business. One of the few remaining original pre-fire buildings is Nellie Cashman’s Restaurant, which is basically across the street from the original fire department. Schieffelin Hall survived, but the Gage Building across the street (now a parking lot) was toast, literally.
This is the background you need in order to understand the fear of fire the powers that be in Tombstone seem to have. The new dining patio and bar at Six Gun City is constructed primarily of wood. According to the newly appointed building inspector, that points to a clear and present danger to the town of Tombstone, and it must be closed, immediately. Oh, and that permit approved by the previous building inspector — well, just forget about it.
Allegedly, on April 2, Tombstone building Inspector Mike Trotter served Mike Carrafa, the owner of Six Gun City, a bar and restaurant on Fifth and Toughnut, with a cease and desist notice. On April 3, Carrafa hand-delivered a detailed report of his plans to bring his new addition into compliance with the “structural provisions of the International Building Code requirements.” According to Carrafa, as of Friday, April 11, he had yet to hear back from Trotter.
It’s not like Tombstone is all that big, what with about 1400 residents. Let’s be honest, "back in the day" (the 1880’s) the population was at least three to four times as large, and the town was still experiencing a building boom. One could see how it might take the building inspector well over a week to get back to a business owner when buildings were sprouting up like mushrooms. But this is 2009. There aren’t all that many buildings going up in town (maybe a new house or two) and not all that much construction going on at all.
There is some question about the timeline of who reported what when, and when the arrests were made, but on Monday the 5th, during the middle of Happy Hour, recently appointed town marshal Larry Talvy arrived to shut down the new patio and bar at Six Gun City. In typical Tombstone fashion, what was just a “friendly” little reminder to Carrafa to keep people out of the new part of his restaurant became, well...at least shots weren’t fired.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
Wow!