As first reported by Resident Advisor, Space needs to alter its emergency exits, currently located on the south side of the building, due to the construction of the E11even Hotel and Residences next door. In order to remain up to code, the stairwell currently used to access the exits on the ground from the terrace will be shifted to the north side of the building and connected with a new passage that will take patrons from ground level to the upstairs area.
So fear not, as there is no looming threat to Space that will force it to leave its current home at 34 NE 11th St. Co-owners Coloma Kaboomsky, David Sinopoli, and Davide Danese assured Resident Advisor that the club isn't going anywhere. During the downtime, several pop-up events will take place at its sister venue in Hialeah, Factory Town.
While no specific reopening date has been given, the venue should be back in operation sometime this fall, according to the announcement made on Instagram. In the meantime, Space will host a closing party marathon May 23-26 and May 30-June 2.
Some are saddened that the club is going offline for a long time. But Sinopoli tells New Times he's encouraged by the response they've received so far.
"I think we learned a lot during COVID on how to handle these types of situations," he says. "It's usually about having all your information concrete and clear and be as transparent as possible."
Sinopoli recognizes that with nightclubs around the world closing because of development, clubgoers are on edge. Rest assured, though: Space continues to coexist with its neighbors despite the Park West area's change from a blighted industrial area to a condo canyon filled with multimillion-dollar residences.
"We felt pretty lucky to figure out a way to continue on Space with what's happening in the development of downtown," he adds. "In this situation, we worked kind of hand in hand with the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA), our landlords, our partners at Insomniac, the E11even Group, and the Property Markets Group to figure out a way for us to be part of what the future development of the city is, and that part of the city, and that neighborhood."
Space opened its doors in 2000 at a spot right down the street, not too far from its current location. It was lured to the Park West area thanks to its special zoning for 24-hour liquor licenses meant to spur development. Over the years, several 24-hour bars and nightclubs around the Park West area have come and gone — Metropolis, Studio A, Nocturnal, Heart, the Hanger, Will Call, Goldrush — but only Space has managed to outlast them all.
"Louis Puig, the actual creator of Space, was in downtown before anybody else, before any of these buildings," Sinopoli says. "He paved the way for everyone in our district."
Kaboomsky, Sinopoli, and Danese — who took to calling themselves the "Space Invaders" — took over the storied venue in 2016. At the time, thanks to the changing trends in dance music, the venue was quickly losing its relevancy. Under their stewardship, the trio restored Club Space's reputation as downtown Miami's premiere dance club and a must-stop for any DJ. Insomniac, the event company behind Electric Daisy Carnival, also acquired an ownership stake in the venue in 2019, helping assure its future.
It remains to be seen whether additional changes and tweaks will be made to the venue during the closure. Sinopoli says they will do "whatever we can do, what we can accomplish without changing the summer timeline. Sometimes, if you add everything you want to do to these projects, it just takes longer to get them done. We want to be lean and mean about what we need to get done."
Beyond the new stairwell, Sinopoli says the same terrace everyone knows and loves will be there in the fall.
When asked if there were any calls for noise abatement from city officials or DNA, Sinopoli says no, that hasn't been the case for a while.
"We've been really at peace with the DNA. We've worked hand in hand with DNA president James Torres and other people from the surrounding buildings to get a directional sound system to play at a certain level for it to be."
Sinopoli adds that noise issues only really pop up as new buildings go up but that the club is always responsive to any complaints and wants to be a good neighbor.
As far as what everyone can expect at Factory Town this summer, Sinopoli clues us in.
"The Factory Town programming is something we're still putting together, so we'll announce what it is and how frequently we do it here shortly," he says. "We're going to be experimental with how we use Factory Town over the summer, with the weather being as hot as it is and the rain."
For the closing parties later this month, Sinopoli says to expect names like Solomon, Fisher, and Honey Dijon, along with a focus on Space's resident DJs. "Every three to five hours, somebody else is going to come on and rock it and give it a kiss goodbye," he says of the planned marathon parties.
