More facts come out about RI Club
Published April 11, 2003
via: CMU
Whether or not investigators into that club fire in Rhode Island find in
favour of the venue's owners (ie they accept their claim that the Great
White's management didn't warn them they would be using pyros), the
aftermath of the whole tragedy is going to be pretty difficult for the
proprietors Jeffrey and Michael Derderian.
Firstly owners have found a document in the rubble which suggests the owners
planned to sell 550 tickets for the Great White gig, when their license from
the local authorities only allows 404. The document is an unsigned contract
between the venue and Great White's management which states the club's
capacity is 550. Although the Derderian's lawyers point out the contract is
unsigned and claim the brothers did not draw it up the document, when you
couple the find with the fact the Pollster directory of US venues also lists
a 550 capacity questions are sure to be asked about how many people were in
the club on the night of the fire.
Secondly the brothers face a $1 million fine from the state's Department of
Labor and Training because it has materialized they had no employers
liability insurance ? meaning there is no provision to compensate employees
injured in the fire. The brothers' lawyer has admitted the club did not hold
what is know as workers' compensation insurance in the US since they bought
the club in March 2000. They will be fined $1,000 a day for the 2 years, 11
months they owned the club which totals $1.06 million. The brothers are
likely to appeal.
Meanwhile senators in the US are discussing new legislation which would ban
pyrotechnics being used in bar venues which have a capacity of under 1000,
and which would force smaller older venues that have side stepped tighter
fire regulations to install sprinkler systems. The bill, which requires
House and Senate approval, would increase fire marshals' authority and make
the illegal use of pyrotechnics a criminal offense punishable by up to five
years in prison.
Marty: The Club owner's initial lies and attempts to blame it all on the band are coming back to haunt them. I suspect that a prison sentence is in their future, as well as hours upon hours of civil courts cases against them.
Marty's band, Growing Old Disgracefully, can be found at: Disgraceful Music. His Cthulhu tales can be found at Temple of Dagon. 
- More facts come out about RI Club
- Published: April 11, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: News
- Writer: Marty Dodge
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Comments on this articleComments
Why do legislators always propose more and more legislation after a tragedy like this even when it's obvious that the cause of the tragedy was failure to enforce the regulations that already exist?
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Good stuff to know. There was never a doubt in my mind the club owners were at fault. These little places always try to cram as many people as possible into their venues, and there just aren't enough people to keep them in check.
The bands can't control where they get booked in most cases; they get an itinerary from their managers, load up the gear and hit the road. My only real question as far as the Great White crew are concerned is why in the hell they saw this place, saw the state it was in, and still decided to use the pyrotechnics.