Orlando Considers Task Force on Nightclubs

A month or so ago when the after hours club Nokturnal was announced, it caught the city of Orlando off-guard.  The City had not considered the issue previously and the only rule they could rely on was that no alcohol could be served after 2AM!

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the issue of after hours clubs and the city's nightclub business in general, particularly downtown, is thus the subject of a new task force the City is considering creating to investigate the entire nightclub business. In the interim, a one year moratorium on any new after hours clubs is likely to be passed by the City Counsel almost immediately.

Unless Nokturnal reopens, it's already a moot point.  It only lasted several weeks.  Without the ability to sell alcohol, there's little revenue to sustain after hour clubs and as you know by now, Orlando clubbers do not like to pay cover charges!

While Orlando's downtown nightlife district is not without problems, knocking it off would be a huge mistake.  Many cities would kill to have the type of revenue being brought-in to our downtown at night. It's true that there is very little retail but the fault for that belongs to daytime inhabitants.  Downtown's bars and clubs and the people drawn there help support many food vendors, fast-food joints and restaurants plus the many parking lots and garages.  While Amway Center and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts have been welcome additions to the downtown scene, neither can sustain a vibrant downtown alone and there is anecdotal evidence that patrons of those two facilities come, watch their performances.....and leave.