Crash shook 75th birthday party
Entrance to downtown nightclub will reopen Friday, manager says
The main entrance to Distrikt nightclub in downtown Victoria will reopen Friday after a car sped across four lanes of traffic and landed inside its front doors last week.
“We’re hoping to have the entrance opened by Friday,” said Terry Friesen, general manager of the Strathcona Hotel. “It won’t be finished esthetically, but it will be functional.”
The structural integrity of the building has passed all inspections, Friesen said. The new entrance means patrons won’t have to use an alternate entrance, which can disturb nearby condominium owners, he said.
An estimate of the damage is not yet known.
A black Acura on Courtney Street shot across four lanes of traffic on Douglas Street just before 6 p.m. Thursday, crashing through the doors and onto the stairs leading to the basement club.
“He was going so fast, he was actually airborne,” Friesen said.
Before landing, the car hit a wall — to which a 65-inch television was affixed — above the stairs. That wall was torn down to the studs and is being repaired this week.
On the other side of the wall is the Sticky Wicket restaurant and bar, where patrons saw the stairs shaking and cabinetry falling during the crash.
Friesen said the stairs, which shifted about 20 centimetres, are being fixed.
Ernie Ackroyd, celebrating his 75th birthday, was just about to put begin eating when there was “an almighty crash” that sent vibrations through the entertainment complex.
The restaurant’s cabinetry fell over and someone shouted a car had crashed into the adjacent Distrikt nightclub.
Ackroyd and his son, Steven Ackroyd, left their meal and went to investigate.
The driver was sitting in the car as it sat suspended over the stairs leading to the club. The vehicle was within inches of a wall on one side, and a metal hand railing on the other.
“There was a strong presence of anti-freeze and steam coming from the engine,” Ackroyd said. “Someone said they smelled gas, though I’m not sure about that.
“There was the possibility of fire. And there was the possibility the car could drop into the stairwell — and that was a long drop.”
Ackroyd said his son kept questioning the driver as to his well-being, and tried unsuccessfully to reach into the car to lower the window. Steven Ackroyd then told the driver to get into the passenger side and his father directed the driver to activate the automatic window controls.
As the driver began to crawl up, “Steven hauled him out,” Ackroyd said.
The driver said little if anything. “He was just too overwhelmed by it all,” Ackroyd said. “He responded to everything we said, but he wasn’t thinking of anything on his own.”
Police suspect the 63-year-old driver had a medical condition that contributed to the crash. He was taken to hospital with injuries that police described as non-life-threatening.
Without missing a beat, the Ackroyds returned to their birthday celebration: “It was just a case of we’ve done what we’ve done and it’s time to get back to dinner.”