Owners of Q Nightclub and Lounge are suing the city of Vancouver and C-Tran, among others, for $22.5 million, alleging they conspired to close the now-defunct nightclub.
Business partners Adrian Kallimanis and Jose Parra contend that they and their club — referred to as a “minority club” in the federal lawsuit — were victims of racial prejudice and efforts by the organizations to hamstring the business and eventually get it closed.
The lawsuit stems from a 2015 dispute when Q Nightclub, located at 704 Main St., was told the garbage and fire access it had used since opening was technically part of the neighboring property.
C-Tran, the transit agency, had purchased that property in 1983. It alerted Kallimanis and Para, as well as the owner of the building, in November 2015 that they could use the access for only 30 more days before finding a permanent replacement.
When the club couldn’t find one, the Vancouver Fire Marshal’s office shut it down a month later.
Besides the city and C-Tran, four individuals are also named in the suit: Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, Vancouver Police Chief James McElvain, Vancouver Fire Chief Joseph Molina and Rick Garza, director of the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Control Board.
The suit claims that Kallimanis and Parra, as owners of a minority club, were treated wrongfully by the agencies involved and eventually forced out of business.
According to the suit, they “worked in concert, conspired or acted in furtherance of a conspiracy to severely limit the owners’ freedom to operate their business and ultimately to close the Q.”
As a result, they claim to suffer economic damages as well as mental, physical and emotional distress.
The city of Vancouver refutes the claims.
“The complaint filed by the Q Nightclub has no legal or factual merit. Specifically, the Q Club was given multiple opportunities to remain an open business by making modifications required to comply with building code, but chose not to do so,” said Daniel Lloyd, assistant city attorney. “The allegations that the city did anything for reasons related to the race of its patrons, or that there was any sort of ‘conspiracy,’ are outright frivolous. The city will vigorously defend this case.”
Representatives for C-Tran did not respond for requests for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Kallimanis and Parra were both new to Vancouver in 2011 when they invested $500,000 to open Q Nightclub and Lounge with all the required paperwork.
It says that throughout the club’s lifespan, the city, the state liquor control board and other individuals tried to “connect black clubs featuring hip-hop music to criminal activity.” It also alleges that in 2015 the club was repeatedly accused by the defendants of contributing to crime in the area.
The vicinity around Q Nightclub was the scene of a March 2014 incident in which a man was shot in the foot and the suspected gunman shot in the hip by police; a brawl in May 2014 that led to one person suffering a brain injury, and a fight and shooting a block away from the nightclub in January 2015 that wounded one, according to The Columbian’s archives.
When C-Tran began building its bus rapid transit center in late 2015, the construction blocked an area the club had used as a rear exit. Club owners were told they could come through the area for 30 days before they had to find a permanent, legal replacement.
Club owners tried at first to create an exit by cutting an opening into a wooden fence that encircled its patio area on the west side, but that didn’t satisfy the city code, according to The Columbian archives. They also tried to reach an agreement with neighboring property owners, but were turned away.
The Vancouver Fire Marshal’s office shut down the club a month later, saying it lacked a functioning secondary exit and, given the fire risk clubs have historically been, the club was deemed unsafe for people to occupy.
Update: A previous version of this article did not specify when C-Tran had purchased the property adjacent to Q Nightclub & Lounge. The transit agency acquired the property in 1983.
