COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — Club Q is starting to develop plans to renovate and redesign the club after the mass shooting that killed five last November.
On Nov. 19, a person opened fire on the LGBTQ+ club and its doors have been closed ever since. The owner and executive board members now say they’re working towards that awaited reopening.
They’re still in the very early stages, but say they want to do things right and respectfully so it could take some time.
Michael Anderson, a Club Q board executive was bartending at the time of the shooting. The trauma is what’s pushing Anderson and the owner forward to start this redesign process.
“Repairing the club as it is right now wouldn’t take too much work done, and it would be open a lot quicker if we opened it as it is today and was that night. But we know we have one chance to do this right and do it respectfully and with integrity and with honor for those we lost. So, that’s what’s going to take the longest here, is to make sure every step of this process is done the right way,” Anderson said.
P + A Architecture Firm is leading the renovations. Their goal for the reopening is simple: to hold true to what Club Q was before the tragedy, and to honor those lost.
Another focus of the reopening and renovations will be heightened security with the design and with staff.
“The people who went through this you know it’s obviously difficult to walk back in there and seeing everything as it was and so we believe once we are able to renovate and kind of have club q rise from the ashes and have this new and improved space, we think that will help with the psychological trauma that a lot of people went through that night,” said Anderson.
This includes a permanent tribute to the victims in the parking lot. Anderson said he hopes to have the input of their families and other loved ones to contribute to the design.
“Club Q will come back and we will have a safe and reimagined place to visit.” Anderson said.
They don’t have a set timeline for the renovations or the reopening, but one thing is certain. Club Q will be back in 2023.