The Bluebird wasn’t operating safely. Then it shut down — for one day.

CDC guidelines advise restaurants and bars to have “adequate supplies to support hygiene” available, such as soap, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. They also recommend these businesses modify their layouts to ensure social distancing, clean their facilities as much as possible, require masks and ensure their ventilation systems are working properly.

Before the closure last week, the COVID-19 policies listed on the Bluebird’s website did seem to align with Holcomb’s order and CDC guidelines — masks were required inside the establishment, and social distancing and hand washing were encouraged. A blurb on the site stated the Bluebird was “following CDC guidelines to keep the building sanitary, safe, distanced and seated.”

Related: [Bluebird nightclub shuts down temporarily to develop COVID-19 safety plan]

But on a mid-February Saturday night, almost a year since the pandemic began, most of these promises were overtly ignored or weakly enforced at the Bluebird. Local musicians and community members who have spoken with the IDS or posted about the Bluebird on social media say they’ve noticed similar COVID-19-safety issues at the venue over the past year.

“Social distancing and wearing face coverings are two vital tools we can use to fight covid transmission,” Penny Caudill said in an email. “Unfortunately, they are also two behaviors that some find easy to forget when visiting local nightlife.”

Caudill said Monroe County has partnered with Security Pro 24/7, a for-hire security services company, to send compliance officers to monitor local bars and restaurants. When those officers find that businesses aren’t complying with health guidelines, she said they work with the business’ management to find ways of reducing COVID-19 spread.

Kubiak told the IDS before the shutdown that the Bluebird had tried its best to administer temperature checks and enforce social distancing, but that it’s been hard to do so for everyone every night. He said the nightclub had conveyed its issues enforcing social distancing with the health department, but Kubiak didn’t indicate that there was any plan to fix the dangerous environment on the dance floor.

Kubiak said the most helpful precaution the Bluebird had taken as of February was the installation of Global Plasma Solutions ionization technology in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. The technology works by releasing ions into the airstream, according to the GPS website, and has been found to filter out pathogens.

“We haven’t had any band members or staff test positive,” he said.

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The nightclub updated the COVID-19 procedures on its website after the shutdown to include that the Bluebird reserves the right to remove people if they don’t follow the rules. Staff are now enforcing that people stay seated throughout performances, and people are no longer allowed to dance near the stage, according to the update.

Aaron Waltz, director of security at Security Pro 24/7, declined to comment on what his team observed at Friday and Saturday night concerts post-shutdown.

Caudill, however, said the Bluebird’s procedures are now more detailed and staff is working through the plans.

“Reports indicate that Friday night went well,” Caudill said in an email. “Saturday had a few more challenges, but compliance was maintained on both nights.”

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Local musician Liam Murphy has performed at the Bluebird dozens of times. He said he isn’t at all surprised by the nightclub’s operations during the pandemic, which he thinks are inappropriate and unsafe.

The 21-year-old Bloomington local and cofounder of Turquoise Mansion, an experimental music collective, said his livelihood, as well as that of his musician friends, depends on performing live.

“My main source of income last year was live music,” Murphy said. “My life has kind of sucked money-wise for almost a year now.”

Even though Murphy depends on the money he makes performing, he said he won’t play live shows at large venues like the Bluebird because of how dangerous it can be.

“When people with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe they produce respiratory droplets,” the CDC website says. “Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets when a person is in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.”

Recent literature and peer-reviewed studies compiled by the National Center for Biotechnology Information have found that the singing and shouting that takes place at crowded live shows can increase spread COVID-19.

“Singing generates aerosols and droplets,” the NCBI found. “A study from Mürbe et al demonstrated increase in particle emission during singing and emphasized the importance of risk management for singing.”

Murphy said seeing other local musicians continue to perform live, knowing how unsafe it can be, has made him feel disconnected from the local music community.

Murphy said local acts like DJ Maddog and Huckleberry Funk are examples of musicians who are handling the pandemic well. He said they haven’t been performing live, and DJ Maddog has been supplementing live music with live streamed performances.

Murphy said the Bluebird shouldn’t be operating because there’s no way to be certain the crowds at their live music shows aren’t contributing to the spread of the virus.

“How can we even know there aren’t outbreaks coming from them?” Murphy said. “People are not wearing masks in there. It’s all over social media.”

Kubiak declined to comment on his reasoning for staying open and said he would explain after the pandemic is over. Murphy said he’s certain the Bluebird cares only about making money.

“Anyone who chooses to play at any bar or venue that is having live music performed during a mass death event is only thinking about money,” Murphy said. “To me, that’s the definition of money being the priority over human lives.”

The Bluebird shutting down for just a day isn’t enough, Murphy said. He doesn’t think they should be open at all until more people are vaccinated.

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“The government shit the bed,” said David James, owner of the Blockhouse Bar. “I lean very milkquetoast — it’s a complex issue.”

While the Bluebird continues to put on live shows, venues like James’ will stay shut down. James said the decision to close indefinitely was the best for the safety of his staff and customers, but that the situation is too nuanced to place blame on other business owners. The federal government didn’t provide businesses with the help they needed, he said.

“I’m on the side of CDC guidelines,” James said. “It’s a liability for people to be gathering right now. We’re choosing to do the safe thing by not bringing people together.”

Community members like Murphy, however, think the issue isn’t that the Bluebird is staying open. It’s that it wasn’t trying to do so safely. The pressure for businesses to stay open and profitable is no excuse for bars to ignore health guidelines, Murphy said.

“You can stay afloat and stay open and follow standards,” he said. “If you’re going to do live music, it’s on the venue to do it safely.”

Kubiak declined to comment about the pressures to stay open because of how mixed public opinion currently is.

“Half the people want us to be open and half don’t,” Kubiak said in an email.

Luckily for the Bluebird, it doesn’t seem like their customers are bothered by the nightclub’s handling of the pandemic. Though onlookers might think the nightclub is creating danger for the community by staying open, the audience thinks the Bluebird’s almost nightly live music shows are worth the risk.

“It’s the best bar in town right now, and I love live music,” said an IU student from the same group as the boy who fell over on his stool. “Maybe this is a ‘dumb decision.’ But all of us have antibodies because we’ve all had COVID before.”

Hannah Dailey reported this story through phone interviews with David Kubiak and community members and email conversations with Kathy Hewett and Penny Caudill of the Monroe County Health Department. Scenes from Feb. 13 were observed from the back corner of the Bluebird nightclub, aside from when taking photographs and asking people questions made it necessary to approach others. A mask was worn and social distancing protocols were followed throughout the reporting process.