Little-known fact: The rooftop of Carmody Irish Pub, which is lower than the buildings on either side, can be a wind alley.
It's probably not the kind of information that just anyone needs to know unless they are, for instance, camping out up there for a week -- as is Dan O'Hearon, the owner of Custom Cab Co. O'Hearon took to the roof on Saturday (and promptly caught a cold), and plans to stay through Friday. It is an anti-drunken-driving campaign promoting his company's holiday pledge to give free rides to people who drink too much and need a safe ride home.
"If you drove to the bar, or you are out to dinner and find yourself in a predicament and you're buzzed up and can't drive, or you expected a buddy to pick you up, call Custom Cab and we'll pick you up," O'Hearon said.
When possible, O'Hearon said he also will get your car home, too.
O'Hearon has an 8-by-8-foot plywood shed assembled in the northeast corner of the roof. He has a mattress, an electric space heater, a portable toilet and showers that are more like sponge baths. He has a laptop, a cell phone and access to the bar's WiFi network. He has been working on the company's year-end paperwork, and occasionally pops out to wave to people driving past his site at 308 E. Superior St.
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Custom Cab drivers have been delivering food to O'Hearon, and on Tuesday night he received a pizza donation from the Green Mill.
"I've lost a couple of friends to drinking and driving," O'Hearon said. "I own a cab service now. What better way to give back than to keep people safe out there?"
The safe-ride service runs through New Year's Eve, although he might not get to everyone on the historically busy night.
O'Hearon said he would prefer that people make arrangements for rides home before going out and use his service if those plans fall through. This is the second year that O'Hearon has done his mid-winter urban camp-out. Last year he was on the roof of the GapWest building for 12 days.
He ended up giving out 58 free rides.
