Double hit for NightQuarter

NIGHTQUARTER has copped a double whammy of bad news.

Organisers have killed off talk of returning to the Helensvale site and said a mooted relocation near the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Athletes Village was unsuitable.

It comes as locations across southeast Queensland have been scrambling to lock in the NightQuarter organisers.

The popular nightspot closed its doors last weekend due to crippling rents demanded by the landlords, Westfield shopping centre operator Scentre Group and the state-owned Queensland Investment Corporation.

Talk of a petition “opening a dialogue” between Scentre Group and NightQuarter was quashed by co-owner Michelle Christoe, who said it came too late.

She said she had sat down with Meaghan Scanlon, the Assistant Minister for Tourism Industry Development, and her team to discuss securing another site for the venue.

But it was discovered this week that one of the Government’s recommended sites, the games village at Parklands, was not a suitable option.

“We’re looking at a lot of sites at the moment and assessing their viability,” Ms Christoe said.

“We had been looking, as one of the options, at one of the Commonwealth Games precinct sites.

“However, we were informed this week that the proposed use of that site for outdoor entertainment purposes is not a use that is approved by Economic Development Queensland’s Parklands development scheme.”

Ms Christoe said people were so desperate for NightQuarter, which attracted touring bands to the city, to remain that they were even offering up their back yards.

“We’ve been approached by so many people across southeast Queensland, people really want NightQuarter,” she said.

“They understand that we’ve been able to activate at grass roots and offer the community the food and entertainment they’re looking for and I guess we delivered that here.

“We’ve been approached by a lot of people, even people have offered their back yards.”

She said the group was determined to continue.

“That’s the thing that made us so sad. We were bringing the bands back to the Coast and providing a safe space for people to come to as a destination. So for us at this point it’s devastating. We’re looking at various sites to see where NightQuarter II will be.”