Celebrities Nightclub reopened last night after a nine-week closure and more than $1 million in renovations that equips the club to be used more frequently as a venue for live bands.
Owner Blueprint spent much of the money on new lighting and sound equipment and on creating a new stage on the Davie Street nightclub's south wall.
"It's now beyond being a nightclub," Blueprint principal Bill Kerasiotis told Business in Vancouver. "It's a music event space where we will cater to big-name acts and artists with big followings. Every surface was touched so when you go in, it is a completely new club."
Kerasiotis plans to have the 7,000-square-foot club compete as a live venue against the smaller Fortune Sound Club in Chinatown and the larger Commodore Ballroom on Granville Street.
Celebrities is located in Davie Village and has a capacity of 500. It frequently hosts bands that have large gay followings but Kerasiotis said the club will have different programming each day of the week so it is not necessarily a gay club.
In addition to owning Celebrities since 1982, Blueprint also owns:
- three other Vancouver nightclubs: the Venue and the Caprice on Granville Street and the Shine Nightclub on Water Street;
- three pubs: the Charles Bar on West Cordova Street, Pivo Public House on Abbott Street and the Dover Arms Pub on Denman Street; and
- several beer and wine stores.
