Club Q Will Reopen, Owner Promises

Club Q in Colorado Springs, the site of a deadly mass shooting November 19, will reopen at some point, its co-owner says.

“We will be rebuilding in some sense or form,” Nic Grzecka told NPR. “This community has expressed wholeheartedly their need for the space that we’ve provided for 20 years.”

Five people were killed and more than 20 injured in the shooting at the LGBTQ+ nightclub. A suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, has been arrested. Aldrich is being held without bond and will appear in court next Tuesday.

Police closed their investigation November 25, so the club’s owners and staff could return to the building. Colorado Springs is a conservative city, and Club Q provided a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.

While the owners decide what to do with the original site, they plan to open a second site, Grzecka said. "We’re currently working on another space we have, another venue," he said. “We’re hoping we can get some funds and people to help get this other space open so we can get our employees back to work and give people a space to go to again.”

City officials in Colorado Springs have been supportive in the wake of the tragedy, he added, and they haven’t always been friendly to the LGBTQ+ community.

Mayor John Suthers, a Republican, attended a fundraiser Tuesday night for the LGBTQ+ Resource Center at the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus. It was held at Atrevida Beer Co., which is run by Richard Fierro, the man who helped stop the shooter and prevent further casualties.

“Yes, we [conservatives] have some differences about sacramental marriage and stuff like that,” Suthers told Colorado Public Radio. “But, for gosh sakes, that is no dividing line in terms of love for fellow human beings.”