Legal fight erupts between Hindley St club king Antony Tropeano and SA Police over Level Up club’s axe throwing bid

Adelaide’s nightclub king has hit a legal snag after a bid to introduce axe throwing into a new club on the site of the old Red Square.

Level Up, a new venue with axe throwing, shuffle board and a rooftop caravan bar was set to open in the former Red Square venue. Picture: Keryn Stevens

A legal battle has erupted after the state’s liquor watchdog banned axe throwing in Adelaide’s premier party strip over police fears it posed a “serious and unacceptable” risk to public safety.

Level Up was due to transform the former Red Square nightclub, on Hindley St, into a sharp new venue for punters to blow off night time steam in early November.

But South Australia’s booze authorities have outlawed the brainchild of leading nightclub owner Antony Tropeano, 44, after the state’s top cop sought to urgently block it.

Mr Tropeano, through his business The Palace Gallery Pty Ltd, last week appealed the decision to the Licensing Court after arguing safety checks would protect revellers enjoying a social activity akin to playing pool, darts, indoor golf or bowling.

The new club was designed to attract a “more diverse” demographic keen on “social and interactive” experiences before heading out to more traditional nightclubs. Picture: Campbell Brodie

Official documents lay bare concerns of senior police, and Consumer Business Services, which enforces liquor laws, over a proposal they argued conflicted with special night time laws.

After publicising his venture, Mr Tropeano, who also owns Cherry Nightclub, Hidden Pour bar and The Palace strip club, was forced to submit a special application despite arguing his “alterations” did not need formal approval.

During a licensing review, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens warned drinking patrons throwing axes in a “high risk location” linked to violence, posed a “serious and unacceptable” threat to public safety.

SA Police told the inquiry that Hindley St violence “frequently results in serious injury to members of the public and even, sadly, in some circumstances death”.

“Hindley St is well known as a night-life area … and is considered by (police) and the (Licensing) Authority to present a relatively higher risk to the public in terms of … safety,” the ruling states.

“(This is) given the public order offences, stabbings, assaults and the like that occur there on a relatively regular basis.

“Police … submit that the Licensee seeking to undertake axe throwing as part of their business model, poses a serious and unacceptable risk to the public, ‘for obvious reasons’.”

Mr Tropeano, the boss of Wolf Nightlife Group – which his wife Colleen, 36, of Springfield, is sole director of – told authorities it would be a “controlled, supervised environment with strict safety protocols”.

Antony Tropeano with his wife Colleen. Picture: Supplied

He would control axe areas, impose two alcohol drink restrictions, enforce sobriety checks using breathalysers, limit capacity, undertake safety briefings, store the weapons securely, stop trading at 11pm, have mandatory legal waivers and staff training.

He hoped the venture, in the former nightclub at 111-115 Hindley Street, would attract a different, “more diverse” demographic keen on “social and interactive” experiences before midnight and not “traditional night-life”.

Rejecting police fears, he argued motorists were allowed a 0.05 per cent blood alcohol consumption before driving.

“The strength of their operational controls and management experience far outweighs the perceived risks outlined by (police) and will ensure that axe throwing will be conducted responsibly and safely at the venue,” the ruling said of Mr Tropeano, whose family experience dates back to 1985.

During a licensing review, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens warned drinking patrons throwing axes posed a “serious and unacceptable” threat to public safety. Picture: Keryn Stevens

CBS assistant director, licensing, Zoe Thomas, ordered axe throwing be outlawed after agreeing with police and finding concerns were not eased.

“An intoxicated person … one affected by drugs or suffering a mental health episode would merely need to get past (a) rope to access the area and potentially get hold of an axe within that area with potentially catastrophic consequences,” she concluded.

None of the parties commented ahead of a court hearing on a date to be set.