Management of Club Q, the Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ nightclub targetted by a deadly mass shooting late last year, has announced its plans for rebuilding and reopening the space. In a statement published on February 13, it was confirmed that the venue is on track to serve the community once again by fall 2023.

The nightclub has partnered with HB&A, a female-owned architecture and planning firm, in order to achieve its refurbishment goals. This includes installing a permanent standing tribute to honour the five lives lost as a result of the attack on November 19, namely Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rump. 

Furthermore, Club Q is to be rebuilt with enhanced security measures before reopening. Initial design concepts are expected to be delivered within the next six weeks, and new screening technologies and a hardened space are among the planned features to be added.

“We are working diligently with local, state and federal agencies on these enhanced security measures and hope it can become a model for countless queer spaces across the country,” the statement reads.

“It was 20 years ago that I fought through a very different time in our country to ensure our community would have a safe space to gather and commune,” Matthew Haynes, Founding Owner of Club Q said.

“It has been two decades now that we have kept the doors open as a place where everyone, regardless of gender identity or who they love, had somewhere to belong.

“To everyone who has asked me to reopen the club, I assure you we are working very hard to bring our home back. We look forward to being able to gather as one community again,” Haynes concluded.

As well as the physical redevelopment of the nightclub, the management has also announced expansions to its staff.

“Club Q management has brought on two victims of the mass shooting as staff and plan to add at least one new staff role in the next month,” the venue confirmed. “These new staff members will work on an administrative basis, assisting management with the rebuild efforts, community relations and more.”

It also explained that as of February 17, it will be able to begin distributing money collected from officially sanctioned fundraisers to former employees and third-party entertainer contractors who have been out of work as a result of the forced closure. Since the attack, Club Q has similarly been fundraising for victims through the Colorado Healing Fund and the Compassion Fund, and has been able to support those affected by the tragedy.