WASHINGTON — The D.C. Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board approved a nightclub liquor license for a well-known gay club to reopen in a former church in Northeast D.C.
Town, which was coined the largest gay dance club in D.C., shut down in 2018 after a 10-year run in the Shaw neighborhood.
The nightclub owners have plans to reopen inside of the former Saint Phillips Baptist Church located at 1001 North Capitol Street NE in the NoMa neighborhood.
The new name of the nightclub would be Town 2.0, according to the owners’ ABC board application.
According to its alcohol license application, Town 2.0 is planning for an occupancy of more than 500 people and an outdoor sidewalk café.
Several groups tried to block the nightclub from getting its liquor license, but the protests did not hold enough weight for board members.
The District’s ABC board approved Town 2.0’s license to operate on Jan. 29, with conditions.
Board members are requiring the following in order for the owners of Town 2.0 to be issued and maintain its license:
- Hire at least two officers with the Metropolitan Police Department Reimbursable Detail program on Fridays and Saturdays from at least midnight to closing
- Ensure that the admittance line into the establishment runs south towards K Street, N .E.
- Ensure that no recorded or amplified sounds may be heard in a residence with its windows and doors closed or heard from public space
- All exterior seating areas shall cease operation at 2:00 a.m.
An order by the ABC board explained if the conditions of the license are not met, the approval license approval "shall be deemed severable."
Opponents can challenge the ABC Board’s decision, but it must be done within 10 days of the order that was issued.
There are also some additional licensing steps in order for the license application to move from approval to issuance.
A total of at least six groups originally submitted protest complaints to D.C.’s Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).
Protest letters came from two groups at an apartment building beside the proposed location called the John and Jill Ker Conway Residence. Additionally, letters were sent to the ABRA board from the ANC 6C Chair Kevin Wirt, Gonzaga High School, and two groups from Mount Airy Baptist Church.
The complaints included everything from potential noise and parking concerns to pedestrian safety and fears about a spike in crime.
The board dismissed many of the concerns or addressed solutions with the stipulation that came along with the application approval.