Club’s demolition leaves nightlife void: DJ

• Sapphire Nightclub has been demolished
• Same owners are opening Gotham on same street

Kelowna has now said goodbye to a downtown landmark. An empty plot of land on Leon Ave. is all that remains of the former Sapphire nightclub.

Demolition crews have been working for more than a week to tear it down and remove the rubble.

A DJ who worked extensively at Sapphire feels this leaves a hole to fill in the city’s nightlife.

“It was the best actual venue in the city. I’ve worked in every room,” DJ Cody Lanoue told Kelowna10. He goes by the stage name Code: E.

“Kelowna is massively lacking any sort of space like that, that’s willing to take on any kind of events, whether it be a jazz night to a DJ.”

The owners of Sapphire also own Gotham Nightclub across the street. It’s opening back up after being closed due to public health orders.

Lanoue explained Gotham, as a venue, is unable to host the same events that Sapphire could. It’s primarily a nightclub whereas Sapphire was equipped with a stage, a second-floor mezzanine, and a floor capable of hosting 500 people.

He said he built all the sound and lighting systems in Sapphire. Initially it took him hundreds of hours of crawling under the stage, in the rafters, and with a Genie lift to install the systems.

He was brought in to help dismantle those same apparatuses, hoping to salvage and reuse some of the equipment.

Demolitions are underway to prepare for several planned developments downtown in order to address the housing crisis and revitalize the area.

“I’m not mad at the developer. I mean, Kelowna’s downtown is old and gross and needs to be updated,” Lanoue said.

“But there doesn’t seem to be a fit for any new nightlife places in there, so I’m really worried about that aspect.”

A former server at the establishment, who wished to remain anonymous, told Kelowna10 she looks back on her four years’ experience there fondly.

“The back bar was where I bartended, it was my haven. I enjoyed every minute of the highly tuned energy in the club and making close knit relationships with all the fellow staff, we were a tight group,” she said.

“But there was nothing I loved more than making the people lined up at my bar feel like a VIP! The many memories warm my heart and bring a smile to my face to this day.”