REVEALED: Inside derelict Ipswich nightclub
The floors are still sticky two years after the popular CBD venue closed
Ipswich
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WITH the floors still sticky with spilled drinks, bottles of alcohol neatly lined in the fridges and disco balls hanging with cobwebs , the derelict Cocktails Nightclub is all but a fuzzy memory for many Ipswich party people.
It's been close to two years since the old managers served their last drinks and locked the doors on the iconic Brisbane St venue but the historic bank building is about to have a new lease on life.
New nightclub business owner Andre Samra has a lot of work ahead as he plans the refurbishment. Assessing the damage for the first time, Mr Samra said he had safety at the forefront of the revitalisation.
He said plans to include a cover charge and strict security measures would help keep the clientele in line.
"We're going to try to make it safe for our patrons.
Because of what we heard about the past we want the safety of the patrons," he said.
"We heard of investigations into fights in clubs so our priority is the safety of our patrons. We want to avoid any sort of fights in the club."
Many relics of the old Cocktails night club are still lying around, including glasses collecting dust on the bar, stools positioned around tables as though they were used only the night before and event posters still lining the walls.
Mr Samran is new to the nightclub industry but he has a few hundred thousand dollars to spend revitalising the building, including $20,000 exclusively for a selfie-friendly ladies' bathroom.
Switch Nightclub will be the seventh business to call the old bank building home, after the Vault Nightclub opened in 1994.
It was later changed to the Volt, then Club City in the mid-'90s, Players in 1999 and Cocktails from in 2010 to 2015. The Cocktails business and building went on the market for close to $2 million in February 2015 and the building was sold earlier this year for $720,000.
Construction work is set to start get under way any day and the first customers should start lining up before the end of the year.
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