Bad news - the Zephyr is closing...

[Mr Toast]

Hey gals and Utah Maidens fans!

I thought you might want to know about this. The Zephyr Club is closing at the end of this month. Apparently the owner of the property that the Zephyr sits on wants to bulldoze it and replace it (and other adjacent buildings) with yet another parking lot!

The Zephyr has been a cornerstone of the Utah music scene for 21 years, and the fact that they were only given two weeks notice about this really bothers me. The management is scrambling for options, but I'm not too optimistic about them getting back into the swing of things for the short term. Even if they were able to secure a lease in the next month or so, we would still have to wait on the remodeling/renovation that would follow. I was at the Zephyr last night, admiring the work they had done on the building, and I seriously doubt they will find another building with anything close to the same vibe... but here's to hoping that the new location has an excellent vibe nonetheless!

BTW, the Zephyr crew (those that I saw last night) asked me to say hi for them!!!


Everyone keep their fingers crossed! It would be a shame for the Zephyr to vanish entirely from the Utah music scene...

 

[Doodoobubbachuck]

!

Unbelievable.

 

[smylex]

That's business for ya. Perhaps there's some way to get the building declared a historic landmark simply based on it's architecture alone.

 

[Mr Toast]

Well, the Mormon Church (I am not kidding here) is shelling out something around $500 million to build the Gateway complex just a little to the north of where the Zephyr now sits. It is going to be a combination of apartments and small retail stores, in an attempt to revitalize downtown SLC (I wasn't aware that downtown SLC was in need of revitalization). The church is also suing the Dead Goat Saloon over it's plans to change to a strip club (the Dead Goat is in the same general area as the Zephyr). That and the fact that the church feels it needs more parking for conferences and other church events, and well it just goes to show why I still consider myself a Tennessean these days...

 

[Doodoobubbachuck]

I heard a rumor that Zephyr is moving across the way to a new club. (???) Will it still be called Zephyr??? Who knows. Apparently this info was given to some of our crew last visit we had. Hope it is true!!!!!

 

[Mr Toast]

Well I was at the Zephyr again last night (seeing Michelle Shocked - yeah I don't always listen to metal!). From what I understand from discussions with the Zephyr staff, they already have another building in mind for their move, but of course it will need to be remodeled first. There are some other circumstances that are tripping this up a bit (something else needs to be resolved first), which is why they are hesitating on the move...

In the meantime, they might be able to do a few more shows in November, but at this point the doors will be closed (temporarily) by mid-November at the latest.

So the Zephyr WILL be back, it is just a matter of how soon...

 

[MiniMurray]

<------michelle shocked's signature smiley would also be an appropriate emoticon for my feeling on this news. hope things get resolved up there soon!

 

[HobbesDawg]

Hey gals and Utah Maidens fans!

I thought you might want to know about this. The Zephyr Club is closing at the end of this month. Apparently the owner of the property that the Zephyr sits on wants to bulldoze it and replace it (and other adjacent buildings) with yet another parking lot!

Everyone keep their fingers crossed! It would be a shame for the Zephyr to vanish entirely from the Utah music scene...

Big business once again trumps history. A short distance from my house is a former great movie palace. the Villa Theater. This former premiere-run theater sat over 900 patrons in one theater, and had the largest screen (not including California) in the West. Alas, later in it's life it turned into a 2nd run theater, and as a result lost more and more customers, fell into further disrepear and now stands empty after a protacted battle by a local grocery chain to keep Walmar from putting one of their food-mart stores there. No plans to rip it down, it sits deralict, and growing progresivly more ugly...

The solution: lets raise a couple mil, buy it, and turn it into the Premieire Rock Club this side of the Missasippi. hehe

No but seriously tho, sorry to see Zephyr go... I hope the new one will be up soon.

-HobbesDawg

 

[Mr Toast]

Just an update...

The Zephyr's last show is this Monday (10/27/03). It was originally thought that they would finish out the month, but this is not the case. Kind of annoying too, since they will not get the Halloween crowds to finish out with...

The current plan is to reopen eventually... how soon is a good question that I will keep seeking the answer for.

The Sons Of Nothing were very good as tribute bands go. I thought that their idea of opening for themselves was a very good idea. They played their original material first, then took a break and hit the stage again after a few minutes to do the Pink Floyd tribute thing.

Their website:
www.sonsofnothing.com

 

[JazzMX5]

Big business once again trumps history. A short distance from my house is a former great movie palace. the Villa Theater. This former premiere-run theater sat over 900 patrons in one theater, and had the largest screen (not including California) in the West. Alas, later in it's life it turned into a 2nd run theater, and as a result lost more and more customers, fell into further disrepear and now stands empty after a protacted battle by a local grocery chain to keep Walmar from putting one of their food-mart stores there. No plans to rip it down, it sits deralict, and growing progresivly more ugly...

The solution: lets raise a couple mil, buy it, and turn it into the Premieire Rock Club this side of the Missasippi. hehe

That'd be awesome. We could hire it out for private screenings of movies too. Be a shame to lose that screen.

Sucks about the Zephyr, just saw it on the news... as you said in the other thread, an ignoble end to a place that held some great memories.