Eleven months after the Club Q nightclub was the scene of a mass shooting, management announced Tuesday that the venue would be relocating four miles away from its original location in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A gunman opened fire on the LGBTQ club on Nov. 19, killing five people and injuring 17 others. The suspect was arrested and charged with over 300 criminal counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes. The shooter pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in June.
The club’s management team initially announced in February that the venue would reopen in the same location this fall with an onsite memorial to those killed in the attack. But they changed course, announcing this week that the club will reopen as The Q and move to a location within the Satellite Hotel in Colorado Springs.
“We fully recognize that Club Q and this community has never been a building or location,” the statement said. “It’s composed of tens of thousands of people of all walks of life coming together to celebrate love and acceptance. The Club Q community has continued to carry on with strength and resilience, even while the doors have remained closed.”
The Club Q management team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the statement didn’t say when the new venue would open, it said the space will be “managed and operated by survivors of the shooting” and added that any former Club Q employees who wish to return will be given “the opportunity to join us at The Q as we build a team.”
Tuesday’s statement also acknowledged there had been “many frustrating delays” in creating the onsite permanent memorial to the five deceased victims — Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rum — and revealed they “are in the final approval process and intend to begin construction very soon.”
Last month, the Club Q management team announced that it will host a vigil on Nov. 19 to mark the first anniversary of the shooting. The parents of victim Daniel Aston will host the remembrance ceremony.
“We will never be able to make those impacted by the shooting at Club Q whole, but we hope this new space can provide community healing,” the club management wrote in Tuesday’s statement. “We all have changed so many ways, but we sincerely hope that the new venue can be a small part of rebuilding the Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ community.”