Almost one year after a mass shooting at the LGBTQ venue Club Q , management said Tuesday that the Colorado Springs, Colorado, nightclub would relocate to a space four miles away from its original location. Photo: Google Earth
Almost one year after a mass shooting at the LGBTQ venue Club Q , management said Tuesday that the Colorado Springs, Colorado, nightclub would relocate to a space four miles away from its original location.
A gunman opened fire inside the LGBTQ club on Nov. 19, killing five people and injuring 17 others. The suspect was arrested and charged with more than 300 criminal counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, and bias-motivated crimes.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in June.
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The club’s management team initially said in February that the venue would reopen in the same location this fall with an onsite memorial to those killed in the attack. But they changed plans, saying this week that the club will reopen as The Q within the Satellite Hotel in Colorado Springs.
“We fully recognize that Club Q and this community has never been a building or location,” the statement said. “It’s composed of tens of thousands of people of all walks of life coming together to celebrate love and acceptance. The Club Q community has continued to carry on with strength and resilience, even while the doors have remained closed.”
While the statement didn’t say when the new venue would open, it said the space will be “managed and operated by survivors of the shooting,” adding that any former Club Q employees who wish to return will be given “the opportunity to join us at The Q as we build a team.”
Tuesday’s statement also acknowledged “many frustrating delays” in creating the onsite permanent memorial to the five deceased victims — Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rum — and said they “are in the final approval process and intend to begin construction very soon.”
Last month, the Club Q management team said on X that it will host a vigil on Nov. 19 to mark the first anniversary of the shooting. The parents of victim Daniel Aston will host the remembrance ceremony.
“We will never be able to make those impacted by the shooting at Club Q whole, but we hope this new space can provide community healing,” the club management wrote in Tuesday’s statement. “We all have changed so many ways, but we sincerely hope that the new venue can be a small part of rebuilding the Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ community.”
