A town hall meeting at the proposed new location of the Odyssey Night Club drew about 135 West End residents on February 5, most of them opposed to the move. The club has been situated on Howe Street for 22 years, but with demolition slated for the near future, management has applied to the city for a Liquor Establishment Class 3 licence at 911 Denman Street—the site of the old Starlight Cinema.

Adele Kirwer lives “four buildings away” from the location and fears that a nightclub would be detrimental to her neighbourhood. She created a Facebook page to muster support, and told the Straight that despite a “wonderful presentation” by Odyssey manager Michael Levy at the meeting, noise remains a “main concern”. “Not just inside the club,” she said, “but from the addition of 224 people to the neighbourhood at 2 o’clock in the morning. Even with the best possible intentions, they have no control over what people do once they’re outside the venue.” Kirwer added that “many of the people who are concerned about this are also people who go to the Odyssey, and they’re feeling bad about that.”

Lucia Cumerlato, licence coordinator for the City of Vancouver, told the Straight that a second public meeting will follow soon, while the Odyssey application is scheduled to go before council in late March.