The opening of Wellington's new LGBT nightclub Club Ivy has been delayed by up to five weeks due to "shoddy" management from previous venue owners.
Club Ivy brand manager Andy Boreham says they were aiming to open the new venue at the end of August but that date has been forced back over questions surrounding the liquor licence.
It appears that previous owners of the Dixon Street venue – who ran it even before it was known as Imerst nightclub – were operating the top level illegally. "The third floor was thought, by default, to be covered by the existing licence," Boreham says. "Which has turned out to not be the case."
Now a new licence has to be applied for, which can take up to five weeks to process.
Meanwhile, work began last month on a complete refit of the multi-level venue, and staff of the capital's newest GLBT nightclub are optimistic that things will run smoothly from here on in.
"It just means that everyone will have more time to prepare and make this venue even better than it would have been before," Boreham promises.
Club Ivy is now expected to open toward the end of September: "but we're crossing our fingers that it might be sooner."
