Tag Archives: nightlife

No joke: Capitol Hill comedy club to close without new buyer

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Taylor at the club (Image: Club Comedy Seattle)

Two veterans of the Seattle comedy scene are looking for new energy and ownership for a Capitol Hill club.

15th Ave E? It’s kind of a funny place for comedy.

Husband and husband team Rick Taylor and Chris Ferguson opened Club Comedy Seattle five years ago on Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E in a former Starbucks converted into a venue for stand-up performance that will now go dark if a buyer doesn’t emerge.

“We have spoken with some folks and organizations about a possible sale of the club and we were hoping that a serious buyer would be interested and be able to step in and pick up where we leave off,” they said in the announcement of the planned closure. “Although some of those talks continue, none of them so far have lead to a solid agreement. It would be great if the space could remain a boutique style comedy club that is invested in bringing new, diverse, and emerging talent to Seattle while staying deeply involved in helping develop the local stand-up community.”

Their last show is currently scheduled for Wednesday, July 15th. Continue reading →

‘Everybody has a Havana story’ — Capitol Hill nightclub closing after 20 years

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(Image: Havana)

Ertel in Havana’s heyday (Image: Havana)

A shaper of Capitol Hill nightlife is cutting his final ties with the neighborhood and a longtime part of the Pike/Pine club scene will shutter.

Designer and musician Quentin Ertel has announced he is closing Havana after 20 years at 10th and Pike.

“As we built Havana 20 years ago most people scratched their heads and asked whether this sleepy corner of Capitol Hill was a good place for a bar,” the announcement begins. “It was a fair question at the time, but as any creative person knows, once you have a vision, once you’re thinking outside of the box, you forge ahead despite significant odds. And so we did.”

Havana’s last night of business will be Saturday, June 27th.

“It’s been a rarity. It’s been a privilege. Havana succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” the announcement concludes. Continue reading →

Police: Tacoma teen fired off nine shots as security tried to break up fight in triple shooting outside Pike/Pine club

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A scene of the aftermath from a video that captured the 1:10 AM shooting

New details have been revealed in the Monday morning E Pike shooting outside a Capitol Hill nightclub that sent three people to the hospital last week including new details about the 19-year-old suspect arrested in a SWAT raid on a Broadway apartment building Friday afternoon.

Police say the teen is from Tacoma and had been previously arrested in a firearm case just weeks before the shooting.

The new information comes from the first Seattle Police Department report on the fight and shooting included in court documents as a King County Superior Court judge found probable cause over the weekend to hold the suspect on investigation of three counts of first degree assault.

The victims in the shooting are recovering including at least one shot in the abdomen and wrist who remains hospitalized. Continue reading →

New program placing freshest cops on the Capitol Hill nightlife beat

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Chief Barnes and ten new recruits from a SPD promotion earlier this year (Image: SPD)

SPD says it is ready to try new approaches to neighborhood crime “hot spots”

By Brenna Gauchat

As Chief Shon Barnes is championing new “neighborhood-oriented policing” and a test of dedicated officers on a beat patrolling Magnusson Park, residents attending a Seattle Police Department community meeting on public safety across Capitol Hill and the Central District said they want to see more officers on the ground in their neighborhoods, too.

On Capitol Hill, a new effort will place rookies and fresh recruits to the Seattle Police force on the streets of the neighborhood’s nightlife core every weekend to help with the surge of public safety issues, SPD officials say.

The Seattle Police Department’s community outreach event Tuesday evening at Capitol Hill’s Miller Community Center covered a wide array of topics, but conversations continued to circle back to SPD’s staffing and a desire to see cops on the beat.

Tuesday, Barnes said SPD has been making progress in building relationships between its officers and residents through the launch of the Neighborhood Resource Officer initiative in Magnuson Park.

This initiative assigns a few new officers to work full time in certain neighborhoods, allowing them, Barnes said, to focus on establishing trust and familiarity among residents instead of being dispatched throughout the city. For Magnuson Park, this means three officers will be on patrol.

Many attendees Tuesday night asked, if Magnuson Park, why not Capitol Hill’s “crime hot spots” like Pike/Pine. Continue reading →

SPD makes arrests, searches for attempted carjackers on gun-heavy Friday night of crime on Capitol Hill

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East Precinct police responded to a rush of gun-related incidents Friday night including the pepper spray-soaked aftermath of an attempted armed carjacking at Melrose and Thomas.

The Seattle Police Department says officers were called to Melrose around 11 PM to a report of a fight involving armed assailants. 911 callers reported a fight involving guns and pepper spray at the scene but no shots fired.

Officers arrived after the suspects fled the scene.

SPD says witnesses reported multiple suspects pulled up in a car near where they were parked and two males armed with handguns “pulled the victims out of their vehicle, threatened them at gunpoint, stole items from them, attempted to carjack them.” During the altercation, the suspects hit the victims with pepper spray and fled the area after the unsuccessful car theft.

There were no additional injuries reported and no immediate arrests.

Meanwhile, police were also responding to Broadway and Pike where a suspect was threatening to shoot the security guards outside a business. Continue reading →

‘TALENT WANTED!  All acts, all humans’ — Capitol Hill’s Roxy Doll remembered

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Roxy Doll

The Capitol Hill club community is remembering an icon who helped give countless Seattle performers their first shot.

Word has spread about the sad passing of Capitol Hill’s Roxy Doll.

“TALENT WANTED!  All acts, all humans welcome for our fabulous weekly variety show & talent contest!,” one of Doll’s show calls last year read.

“Come join Seattle Drag Icon Roxy Doll at Neighbours Nightclub!” Continue reading →

City proposes expansion of Chronic Nuisance Ordinance to include areas outside clubs and motels

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The city is working to expand its Chronic Nuisance Ordinance that can require problem properties and businesses to enter into an agreement with City Hall to address public safety concerns — or risk being shut down.

The Seattle City Council’s public safety committee Tuesday was scheduled to hear details of the proposed update that would open the way for liquor violations to be included among criminal offenses that can be included in the determination for a property.

A much larger change would expand potential violations to the area around a problem property, allowing officials to pursue a chronic nuisance designation if a violation involved an employee or customer of the property in a public safety incident outside the establishment. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill is dead — The Rhino Room is selling couches

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(Image: CHS)

Six months after going dark and quietly ending its 11-year run of Capitol Hill nightlife, the former Rhino Room space at 11th and Pine is suddenly filled with furniture as custom retailer Couch has moved to Capitol Hill from Ballard.

“Pick one of our thoughtfully designed styles or work with us to come up with a new variation. We are custom builders in the truest sense of the word,” the store’s pitch goes. “Custom elsewhere can mean you get to choose blue instead of gray. At Couch it means you design a sofa in your exact size, style and comfort specifications.” Continue reading →

Seattle passes after-hours club regulations

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The Seattle City Council approved legislation Tuesday regulating after-hours clubs that officials say have proliferated around the city and have become centers of crime and gun violence.

“Over the past decade, there have been dozens of shootings and homicides that have occurred in connection with these venues,”  a statement from council president Sara Nelson said.

The legislation passed unanimously Tuesday creates new requirements that include restricting venues to 21+ age limits, no service of alcohol between 2 AM and 5 AM, requiring at least two trained security personnel, running a security checks for weapons upon entry, providing video surveillance of exits, and what backers say will be “unimpeded police access while operating.” Continue reading →

Broadway’s Comedy/Bar is now Emerald City Comedy Club and is taking on A-list renovations

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Hesseldahl confronting the old walls before the club’s opening in 2023

By Calvin Jay Emerson

Some jokes go over better than others. Broadway’s Comedy/Bar is gone. With the Emerald City Comedy Club, a new start is underway.

If you ever walk north from Capitol Hill Station, you’ll likely pass under an unlit neon arrow. Wrapped around it is a swirling black ribbon, labelled “High Line”, indicating its former purpose. Given that the dive bar of the same name closed five years ago, it now only serves as a reminder of the changes at 210 Broadway E.

Its most recent identity was as Comedy/Bar, a comedy venue that, despite attracting national controversy, has maintained a friendly following. They’ve provided a space to go for a reliable laugh and discover new comedy talent.

However, owner Dane Hesseldahl knew that the club hadn’t reached its full potential. Continue reading →