The former site of Next Level nightclub will be refurbished, renamed and its new owner is hoping to have it re–opened by early to mid–December.
 Workers remodel the inside of the former Next Level, which will open as Jet nightclub in mid–December. |
Island Pools company owner Joe DeFilippo confirmed Friday that he had purchased the nightclub business from former owner Harry Lalli who was never able to get the club going following a deadly shooting inside the premises on 10 September.
The liquor licence–holder, Christian Sorenson, will remain the licensee and building owner.
Mr. DeFilippo said the new club would be called ‘Jet’ and would be redesigned in attempts to bring a more upscale clientele to the establishment.
“We’re going to put a lot of time into making it very nice inside, and obviously safe,” he said.
The early morning of 10 September, 35–year–old Carlo Webster was shot in the head on the dance floor of the Next Level and another man was wounded by what police later said was either a bullet ricochet or errant gunfire.
Mr. DeFilippo, who owns O Bar and the Attic bar located on the opposite side of West Bay Road from the former Next Level site, said a significant security presence will be maintained at the new Jet club. He said it will not be unusual to see 10 or more security guards on site during busy evenings.
“On a busy night at O Bar we have that many,” Mr. DeFilippo said, adding that he also intended to have K–9 security eventually implemented at Jet nightclub.
Security costs have been steadily rising for Cayman’s nightclub owners, and a few clubs, including Pepper’s and Everglo (Pit Stop) have closed down within the past year or so partly due to violent incidents which have occurred around their premises.
“Our cost of security at O Bar has gone from $4,000 a month to $10,000 a month in the last two years alone because of the recent violence,” Mr. DeFilippo said.
Royal Cayman Islands Police and the Liquor Licensing Board have assisted in drafting new proposals for Cayman’s Liquor Licensing Law, but those plans have not come before the Legislative Assembly. Several nightclubs have adopted new security measures, including metal detectors and pat–down searches of patrons, at the request of the board.
No charges have been filed in connection with September’s shooting at Next Level. Police arrested three men within a day after the shooting, but all three were released without charges.
In any case, simply closing down a nightclub or bar that has been a problem spot can end up creating more problems than it solves.
Just ask RCIPS Inspector Richard Harford.
In an interview earlier this year, Inspector Harford confirmed that at least two shootings in central George Town occurred near areas where unlicensed street parties, commonly known in the Cayman Islands as ‘sessions’ were being held.
Whether those involved in the recent shootings were actually attending the street parties in both instances was not known, but Harford freely admits that the unlicensed events are a major headache.
“Some of these guys are persistent,” Harford says. “They (hold parties) every weekend, and that’s actually where all of the anti–social behaviours take place.”
Street parties also tend to move around to make it more difficult for police to find them.
“It’s the balloon effect,” said Mr. Harford. “You put pressure on one side and the other side blows up.”
Inspector Harford said police in George Town are making greater efforts now to control these illegal parties which generally happen between midnight and 6am on weekends.
Not only are those who host the parties, play music and sell alcohol acting illegally, but Mr. Harford said individuals who attend the sessions might also be arrested if police arrive.
Samson says he doesn’t believe the sessions are as big a problem as they were in the late 1990’s in Cayman. However, he says closing one club can just lead its patrons to go down the street to the next one.
This situation can be addressed by nightclub and bar owners, Samson says.
“What we have tried to do, and to a certain extent it was done, that if you’re banned from a particular nightclub – if there was a way we could network with each other so (that person) doesn’t show at somebody else’s doorstep,” Samson says.
DeFilippo also notes that under the current law, not all liquor licensees are treated equally. He points out that some bars are allowed to serve alcohol on Friday nights until 1.30am or 1.45am now. Nightclubs must stop serving at 2am, although they can remain open until 3am.
“There are bars now acting as clubs,” DeFilippo says. “They have 250-300 people and they don’t have to follow the laws of the clubs. Some of them have one security guard.”
Nightclub owners and tourism-based business have also urged government to allow nightclubs to remain open until at least 1am Sunday. Currently, the Cayman Islands Music and Dancing Law require those premises to shut down at midnight Sunday.
“From a standpoint of tourists coming to the Islands, it’s necessary,” he says. “I would invite anybody to come and stand there on a Saturday night when tourists are here for the first time and they have to leave at 12 o’clock. The amount of abuse we take…it’s ridiculous.”
In another related issue, a woman was mugged earlier this year in the parking lot across the street from the Waterfront restaurant.
The Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce has advocated that island-wide connectivity be established for CCTV cameras, so that those video feeds can be sent directly to police stations. Bar and club owners have also supported that proposal.
What happens outside nightclubs and bars has been another touchy issue, with club owners arguing they simply can’t police everything that happens in the street around their establishments.
“What has been our experience is that when there’s a major incident and we get hauled before the board and chastised...(police) show up for a while and then they slack off,” Samson says.
Clubs have asked police to maintain presence in their parking lots, particularly around closing time on the weekends to make sure those hanging around in the lots don’t get into scuffles after-hours. RCIPS officers have done so in the past as staffing levels and calls for service have allowed.
RCIPS Chief Superintendent Adrian Seales says bar and nightclub security is a top priority for the police.
“We’ve adopted a high-profile policing approach in the areas surrounding the bars and clubs,” Seales says, adding that the clubs themselves have taken a number of steps in the past 18 months to better secure their own premises.
“These include the use of metal detectors, stop and search operations, roadblocks and high visibility patrols at peak times.”
Seales also hinted at a new Cayman Islands “Bar Watch Programme” that will introduced in the beginning of 2010 by the RCIPS, but provided no further details.
