EDMONTON – A downtown nightclub temporarily shut down after a shooting in November will not reopen.
The owners of 180 Degrees Restaurant and Nightclub handed over their business and liquor licenses last week, said Sgt. Nicole Chapdelaine, co-ordinator of the city’s public safety compliance team. The nightclub’s business licence was suspended for 14 days in early November, and Chapdelaine’s team had requested a review from the city’s chief licensing officer.
With the voluntary forfeiture, Chapdelaine said the case is now considered closed.
“In the end, this is what we would have hoped for,” Chapdelaine said.
The temporary suspension was issued after a man fired a shotgun through the wooden door of the club around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 6. Three patrons and two security staff were hit with birdshot and taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The public safety compliance team, made up of police officers, firefighters, the city’s community standards branch and the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, was monitoring the club before the shooting, Chapdelaine said at the time. Along with liquor violations, there were complaints from the community about noise and fights in the alley outside the nightclub, at 10730 107th Ave.
The club has a history of violence. In 2008, police found a man who had been shot lying in the street outside the club. In 2004, man was stabbed to death outside the club, then called the Red Cherry Lounge.
The owners could not be reached for comment.
While it’s possible another club could move in, Chapdelaine said any potential owners face new tough rules under an updated business license bylaw that comes into effect Jan. 1.
Bar and nightclub applications will be sent to the public safety compliance team, which can make recommendations to the chief licensing officer for or against approval. The team can recommend conditions, such as mandatory pat-downs. It’s all part of a more proactive approach to monitoring bars and nightclubs, Chapdelaine said.
“We’re front-end loading it now. So we’re not waiting for someone to shoot through the door,” she said.
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