Former Club Evo reported to be reopening Friday night for ‘rave’ event

For the first time in more than a year, downtown White Center’s former Club Evo (9625 16th SW) is apparently on the verge of opening again – as an event venue.

A tip tonight called our attention to an invitation/information page on Facebook for an all-night event there this Friday/Saturday.

It’s desrcribed as an all-ages party 7 pm Friday to 5 am Saturday, with multiple DJs in two separate areas of the venue, and more than 700 RSVPs on the Facebook page (though anyone who uses FB more than occasionally knows that RSVP numbers seldom translate to actual attendees, whatever the event). In discussions between dozens of attendees, it is repeatedly referred to as a rave. One exchange indicates no alcohol is expected, though attendees are sharing information on nearby White Center establishments that do sell alcohol. Tickets are going for $15 to $40 on Brown Paper Tickets, where the venue is described as El Reventon, the South Seattle venue that holds the name once proposed for the Club Evo site. (According to discussion on the Facebook page, the venue had to be changed at the last minute.)

You’ll recall that in August of 2011, with the venue’s owner and a business partner seeking a new license to reopen the 16th SW space that some had criticized for , County Councilmember Joe McDermott led the charge to get a one-year emergency moratorium on nightclub-type businesses passed. That, and the rejection of a business-license application, kept the space closed and idle. Months before the license application, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had summarized previous action that shut down Evo, describing it as an “unlicensed youth dance hall (that) became a magnet for gang activity.”

But the moratorium ended this past August, no renewal, McDermott confirms in response to our inquiry tonight. At the time, local leaders pleaded for some help from the county, at least until Burien potentially annexed the area; now that’s been defeated, and White Center remains under county rule TFN.

So is this event a now-permissible use of the space? McDermott is checking on permit requirements, also in response to our inquiry. Meantime, a bare-bones Facebook page for Club Evo itself appears to be under construction as of less than a day ago.

We went to the site tonight to see if there’s any signage or permit-related posting related to this advertised event, checking both its 16th SW and alley sides, but found only a notice from Seattle Public Utilities saying “sorry we missed you” regarding an appointment this afternoon to turn on the water (and instructions on how it could be done without official help).


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3 Responses to “Former Club Evo reported to be reopening Friday night for ‘rave’ event”

  1. Thank goodness the NO annexation voters won. Otherwise, Burien would be in control of Club Evo and would not have allowed such use as we were told when we asked. Yea, back to drunken street brawls, increased drug use, prostitution and more crime in general in downtown White Center with helicopters waking us up in the middle of the night.

  2. Yep, raves are definitely know for bringing in the hookers;)

    The Facebook page is reporting the rave is cancelled because of a lack of permits. Any one have more info?

  3. I hadn’t checked in a couple hours – will check again. We hadn’t received definitive word from the county on whether this was an approved reopening or not – besides the moratorium, which expired, we were reminded that there had been an injunction, since there were fire safety issues among other things, and regardless of who owned it and what they were going to do, this site wasn’t supposed to be reopened until those issues were addressed:

    http://whitecenternow.com/2011/07/10/details-concerns-over-club-evo-site-reopening-aired-before-north-highline-unincorporated-area-council/