It can take quite a bit of time to wade through the crowd from the Harvill Building to the Student Union around noon on a typical school day, but try walking from the far side of Maloney's on Fourth Avenue - to the other end of the bar.

Despite only having to cover a distance of about 50 feet, it wasn't unusual for the trip to take a good five minutes last night, which was the establishment's first full evening in business.

Even still, UA sociology sophomore Lisa Horowitz understated the situation.

"It's a really great bar, but it's a little crowded tonight," Horowitz yelled, straining to be heard over the deafening sound of a couple hundred college students and the Blues Traveler tune that was pumping through the sound system.

In fact, roughly 276 people - the bar's capacity - were milling around the bar at that moment, as some 100 to 150 waited as long as an hour and a half to gain admittance.

Across the parking lot, doorman Sam Hweimel sat on a stool checking IDs outside O'Malley's on Fourth, which normally draws the a good portion of the Fourth Avenue crowd but was playing second banana to its new neighbor last night.

"It's a nice-looking bar, but I don't think it will hurt (business for us) in the long run," said Hweimel, a Near Eastern studies junior who has worked at O'Malley's for 21/2 years.

Added O'Malley's assistant manager Greg Gilbert, "We're just hoping it brings more people down to this area, and that they will come down and just go back and forth between bars."

At a cost of roughly $500,000, Gino Fuller and six of Maloney's' other co-owners renovated half of an old warehouse, formerly La Isla Tiburon bar, and turned it into an "upper-scale" hangout featuring carpeting, 17 televisions, stained glass, a copper awning and a state-of-the-art ID accountability system.

Fuller and Maloney's manager Christian Corbett agreed that their new bar offers a different atmosphere than O'Malley's, but hesitated to brag that it would become more popular.

"We're not down here to cut throats," Corbett said. "We look at O'Malley's as partner, not as competitor."

As for the students inside, many suggested that Maloney's represents a welcome alternative to the assortment of "dive bars," as some described them, that Tucson typically offers.

"It's about time," said Matt Rector, communication senior. "I was pretty much a Dirtbags regular, but I think I'll have to change my allegiance."

Loyalty wasn't on everyone's mind, though.

"Look how these women are dressed," commented Mojo of 93.7 KRQ-FM's Mojo and Betsy morning show. "It's like a fashion show."