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Ill just be happy when the nightclub opens again.
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Heaven still in purgatory
ADVERTISER
A MAN linked to the controversial Heaven Nightclub has spoken publicly for the first time, hitting out at critics of the club, his past crimes and his alleged links to bikie gangs.
Paul Pavlovski, the majority shareholder of company West North Pty Ltd - which owns the freehold to the Newmarket Hotel site on West Tce along with prominent Adelaide businessman Damian Lester - this week broke his silence on the club's troubles.
Located in the city's west end, the nightclub was once a thriving hub of activity. But for almost six months, the lucrative site, host to about 6500 clubbers a week in its prime, has been sitting empty as a bitter dispute rages between the site's landlords about who has the right to buy, sell and lease the club while allegations fly about its links to bikies and incidents involving drug overdoses.
The state's courts, including the Supreme Court, have also been host to legal battles involving the club and its owners.
All the while the 100 people employed at the club, with an annual turnover of $5-6 million , remain out of work while the doors remain closed.
Mr Pavlovski, who has been linked to former Gypsy Joker Anthony Sobey and has several criminal convictions, told The Advertiser he just "wanted to sell the freehold" and ensure a new landlord can operate the venue. That plan has hit a snag, after a bitter fall out with his co-owner caused Mr Lester to remove the right for Heaven to use his car park next door, meaning it was now in breach of licensing rules governing the site's licence.
It is understood that is being reviewed by Adelaide City Council's planning department.
Mr Lester, a director of company In the City, has twice failed to gain approval for the nightclub's licence after police raised concerns both times.
He has also lost a Supreme Court battle with West North over, what documents show is, almost $45,000 in unpaid rents.
While admitting to knowing Sobey - "Adelaide is a small place" - Mr Pavlovski, who has criminal convictions for possessing cocaine and serious assault, rejected suggestions he had links with bikie gangs.
"I have never been to a bikie gang members' house or clubrooms in my life, I mean who knows who a bikie is anyway," he said. "I just came across him (Sobey) and he seemed like a nice bloke.
"I don't want to run the club (Heaven), I just want to collect my rent.
"I don't want to fight in the courts all my life."
The club was forced to close in September last year after its former management, Adelaide City Entertainment, and its former director John Pike, got into financial difficulty.
The club, which also plays host to music concerts, had reported links to the Hells Angels, whose security firm Total Control ran security until October 2004. Last year, the South Australian Liquor Licensing Court heard Mr Pavlovski, an associate of Heaven's former manager Pike, had been found to not be a "fit and proper" person in Victoria.
In the first case of its type in South Australia, Liquor Licensing Commissioner Bill Pryor and Police Commissioner Mal Hyde both lodged intervention orders against several people they believed were "undesirable" to operate nightclubs. Mr Pavlovski, who operates hotels in Victoria, said he had no ambition to operate the nightclub and has never made an application to do so.
"It is very frustrating (the closure) because it is a beautiful property," he said. "The sooner it is open the better. I think the community is suffering greatly."
A newly formed Victorian company, the Heaven Group Ltd - with its director English businessman Clive Benson-Brown and shareholder, Melbourne solicitor Sam Holt, the son of former Prime Minister Harold Holt - have applied to the Liquor Licensing Commission to operate the club. The parties are due to appear in the Liquor Licensing Court on Tuesday to set a hearing date where several issues will be thrashed out after a conciliation meeting this month failed to resolve concerns.
Since that meeting, the financial background of Mr Benson-Brown has been carefully scrutinised by authorities, including his involvement in several court cases in Western Australia. Mr Holt did not return calls while Mr Benson-Brown could not be contacted.
Assistant Liquor and Gambling Commissioner Michael Jarvis declined to comment on the case's specifics. He did confirm the commission was looking into Heaven Group's background.
"We have to be satisfied they are suitable people to operate a nightclub," he said. Mr Lester, who has objected to Heaven Group's bid, said he was an "innocent victim" in the whole debacle.
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