Bennito L.Kelty
Audio By Carbonatix
Timing is everything.
Denver City Council was slated to discuss a new entertainment licensing ordinance proposed by the Denver Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) — the first update in 40 years, designed to both streamline the system and improve safety — when a shooting at Ultra Lounge East left one person dead and eight injured.
This was the third dangerous incident and second fatality tied to the club at 9755 E. Hampden Ave. this year. In April, a confrontation with the business’s unlicensed security guards landed a patron in the hospital. Another customer was beaten to death on March 1 in the parking lot. Three suspects have been charged with second-degree murder in that case; there have been no arrests in connection with the July 20 shooting.
But there have been consequences. City council postponed its scheduled consideration of the proposed ordinance. When it finally passed on Aug. 3, the provision that would have allowed some clubs to stay open until 4 a.m., with alcohol sales cut off at 2. a.m, was ultimately removed from the ordinance. The move was billed as a way to reduce the potential for trouble at let-out by staggering closing times, but council members wanted to see more evidence.
Meanwhile, Ultra is gone for good. Musician Dionte Wilkins had been leasing the former Yak and Yeti restaurant space for his hip-hop club. In the wake of the second fatality and other violations, the Yak and Yeti Restaurant Event Center surrendered its dance cabaret and liquor licenses. Rather than go to a city hearing on Sept. 11, Dol Bhattarai, the owner of the building and the restaurant group, agreed not to apply for a new liquor license for two years.
With 35 killings recorded through July this year, including the two at Ultra, the Denver Police Department announced a new Violence Suppression Action Plan to address the recent rise in homicides. A provision in the five-point plan calls for enhanced licensing and regulatory action at nuisance businesses.
The DPD declined to provide a list of nuisance businesses, citing pending investigations, but the city’s licensing department has taken action elsewhere.
Another summary suspension
On Aug. 11, the DLCP issued a summary suspension of the liquor and cabaret licenses for Olympus Discotheque at 2036 Broadway. Alleged violations include an unlicensed security guard hired by the business sexually assaulting an underage female customer at gunpoint, a horrific act captured on video.
A summary suspension is only used in an emergency situation where there is an extreme immediate danger to health, safety and welfare if a business continues to operate, according to DLCP spokesman Eric Escuadero. A summary suspension was also used to close Ultra.
The Olympus accusations mark an ugly chapter for a storied location. In the early ’70s, the building opened as Triangle Bar, the city’s first openly gay bar. But the legendary Triangle closed in late 2023, during its 50th year. Adoney Varela, who’d recently shuttered his Medusa’s Latin club on Federal Boulevard, leased the space from owner Scott Coors to open Olympus in the summer of 2024.
“We’ve got a good venue,” Varela said at the time. “We’re open for everybody to come here and have a fun time and enjoy the experience of being here and knowing there’s an actual Hispanic, Latino club doing things different than what Denver has experienced.”
But the stories coming from Olympus customers were all too familiar. Like Ultra, Olympus used unlicensed security guards. While there is no state licensing requirement for security guards in Colorado, Denver requires all security guards and security companies to be licensed by the city.
According to city documents, the club owner did not report the assault, and the victim was underage, as were other customers served at the club. During a subsequent DPD operation, the club reportedly served an underage cadet.
Olympus has a virtual hearing with the city scheduled for Aug. 18, when it can contest the summary suspension while the licensing discipline case is pending.
While the 4 a.m. closing option didn’t make the final version of the new entertainment license ordinance, the DLCP and council members discussed a potential pilot program for 4 a.m. closings in certain parts of the city.
several provisions involving safety did. As council was considering the measure, DLCP Executive Director Molly Duplechian said that “a lot of the details” will be hammered out in a rulemaking process. But several new rules are already set in stone, such as safety requirements that ban weapons inside venues, stricter surveillance, background check and record-keeping rules, and mandates for “safety and security plans” by venue owners.
Starting with not hiring unlicensed security guards who pose their own nuisance.
