The ghost of a former Powell River nightclub is haunting the neighbours of Crossroads Village Shopping Centre.
A new nightclub called Sugar Vault is planned to open next month, but the news has not sat well with a group of neighbours of the strip mall.
Some still have memories of Pisces, a nightclub located beside the nearby Canada Post office that received numerous noise complaints from surrounding neighbours. Pisces closed in the mid-2000s.
Sugar Vault co-owner and Powell River resident Amy Sharp said she understands the connotations of a nightclub can be scary, but the business she is planning will be an upscale cocktail lounge with dancing.
“I’m not interested in having a bar that attracts the dregs of society,” said Sharp.
Ann Avenue homeowner Mark Scott said his neighbourhood, Willingdon Heights, located between Harvie Avenue and Crossroads, is attractive for seniors and others due to its quiet and easy access to shopping.
He added that since learning about the nightclub, he has been talking to and mobilizing neighbours for their public feedback.
“We’re not anti-business, but a nightclub, even with the best of intentions, is not going to work here from a disturbance point of view,” said Scott. “The neighbourhood is so worked up; we’ll rally as a unit, actively complaining to the city and the liquor-licensing branch that we do not support this in any way.”
Sharp said part of Sugar Vault’s business plan is to attract a more respectable nightclub clientele. Sugar Vault will appeal to professionals in their late-20s to 50s looking for a nicer place to go, she said. She added that Sugar Vault will provide a needed alternative for patrons who want to dance.
“To us, that’s what we really want to provide for Powell River,” said Sharp.
The nightclub is less than 100 metres away from the residential intersection of Ann Avenue and Abbotsford Street. Anticipating concerns, Sharp said she has been talking to neighbours about the business and trying to inform them of its “neighbourhood protection policy,” outlining how noise and other potential disturbances would be handled.
The club plans on having security in the parking lot from Thursday to Saturday enforcing a no-loitering policy, said Sharp. Music will be played inside and the patio will be closed after 10 pm, she added.
“I have run so many events with lots of alcohol and lots of people and I haven’t had the problems that happened at Pisces,” said Sharp.
Scott said he and many of the neighbours are not convinced. “Even though the proponents are saying they’ll do everything they can to make sure it’s quiet, we just think the business logic is flawed,” said Scott. “If you’re going to have liquor as your primary business revenue stream and you’re going to have music to 2 am, it’s not going to work for us.”
Scott said the neighbourhood would support an unlicensed establishment that provided a place for dancing, but was closed before 10 pm.
Sharp said work has been progressing to renovate the space and install sound-damping materials on the walls and ceiling, and the space will not accommodate bands with drum kits.
The hope is to open next month as an unlicensed club and host local non-profit society fundraisers, she said. The club will also host special lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender nights, something that, according to her, no other drinking establishment has provided for Powell River.
Sharp said the business has applied for a liquor-primary licence from the provincial government. The club’s licence application could take the provincial government between seven to 12 months to process, she added.
The club will be open four nights per week, Thursday to Sunday, with hours until 2 am on Friday and Saturday. Besides alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, the club will also serve appetizers and desserts.
Sharp said she understands the neighbourhood’s concerns given that the history of Pisces still lingers in the neighbourhood.
Abbotsford Street resident Jake Corbett said he is worried the upscale club will be forced to alter its business model if it does not draw enough business.
“From the history of Pisces we know this will morph into whatever it needs to morph into to create the revenue,” he said. “Once they have a liquor-primary licence, what can we do?”
