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Circa got their liqour licence
didn't see a thread about this.. thought it was worthy of one
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...tional/Ontario/
NYC club king setting up shop in T.O.
Peter Gatien's 3,000-person capacity venue wins liquor licence amid strong opposition
UNNATI GANDHI
July 28, 2007
The king shall reign again.
Peter Gatien, who ruled New York's nightclub scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s until a murder and drugs scandal destroyed his business and he went to jail for tax evasion, has finally obtained a licence to open a massive new club in the heart of downtown's entertainment district.
His 3,000-person capacity Circa nightclub at John and Richmond Streets has seen several scheduled opening dates come and go since last summer. He's also been fighting for a liquor licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario since April.
In a decision issued yesterday, the AGCO board agreed to license the venue under certain conditions. Circa cannot have an outdoor patio, cannot play or transmit music outside, and must have a clearly visible security staff member for every 75 patrons during its hours of operation.
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At the hearings into the licence application held in May and June, a veteran OPP officer seconded to the AGCO, Terry Bender, testified that he spent a year searching for evidence that would have disqualified Mr. Gatien, but turned up nothing.
"Despite the thorough nature of his investigation," the board members wrote in their decision, "... the officer testified that he had reached no conclusions regarding Mr. Gatien's suitability for a liquor licence and was not prepared to recommend that he be denied a licence. The Board considers this highly significant."
Among the long list of witnesses who testified against Mr. Gatien's application were police and local city Councillor Adam Vaughan, on the grounds that the club district is already out of control.
"The sponge is full," said 52 Division Superintendent Hugh Ferguson, in charge of keeping peace in the club district, which has the highest rate of violent crime in the city with an average of 20 to 30 people arrested every Saturday night. That's despite having as many as 60 officers assigned to the area during those times.
During his testimony, Mr. Vaughan asked for a pause in granting any new licences in the area until the city, the police and the public can "get a handle" on the problem.
But supporters of Mr. Gatien, who is originally from Cornwall, Ont., said the new venue would raise the cultural profile of Toronto's entertainment district. An area resident who works near the district said he hasn't frequented many of the existing clubs because they all seem the same. Another called Circa "way ahead of the curve."
Circa is slated to be an eclectic cultural space featuring six different rooms and a DJ booth in each bathroom. Mr. Gatien, who at one time owned New York City's top three nightclubs, once said he would also feature museum-like displays that would be rotated through the nightclub.
In its decision, the AGCO board ultimately found that the reasons cited by objectors were not enough to deny Mr. Gatien a licence.
In 1996, a party promoter with one of Mr. Gatien's New York clubs, Limelight, was arrested for the murder of a drug dealer. Three years later, a club-goer overdosed on ecstasy inside another one of his clubs, Tunnel.
While drug charges against Mr. Gatien, as owner of the venues, were eventually dropped, he was caught for evading $1.3-million in U.S. taxes. He was jailed for 45 days, then released and deported to Canada.
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