COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Nearly three months after five lives were taken and countless others forever changed during a mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, management announced it expects to fully reopen the LGBTQ nightclub by fall 2023.
The club has partnered with Colorado Springs-based HB&A to rebuild what used to be a safe haven for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs.
Initial design concepts will be delivered within the next four to six weeks, Club Q management said in Monday's announcement. Interior gutting of the existing Club Q building will take place in April.
There will also be a tribute built to honor the five people killed in the Nov. 19 shooting — Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rump.
There will be enhanced security measures, including new screening technology and a "hardened space."
"It was 20 years ago that I fought through a very different time in our country to ensure our community would have a safe space to gather and commune. It has been two decades now that we have kept the doors open as a place where everyone, regardless of gender identity or who they love, had somewhere to belong," Matthew Haynes, founding owner of Club Q, said in a statement. "To everyone who has asked me to reopen the club, I assure you we are working very hard to bring our home back. We look forward to being able to gather as one community again."
In addition to physical changes, there will also be managerial changes. Two victims have been brought on to the staff, and the club plans to add at least one new staff role in the next month, Club Q announced.
These staff members will work on an administrative basis, according to management, and will help with the rebuilding efforts, community relations and more.
The club will release its full staffing plan closer to its reopening.
RELATED: These are the 5 victims of the Colorado Springs Club Q shooting
Following the shooting, Club Q created a GoFundMe fundraiser to support its employees and entertainers. As of publication, the fundraiser has collected more than $55,000.
In their announcement Monday, Club Q management clarified that the GoFundMe is "managed internally and at the sole discretion of Club Q management." The objectives of the fundraiser, according to management, are to:
- Ensure employees, as well as third-party entertainment contractors, "did not suffer a reduction of income due to the sudden closure of Club Q"
- Fund a "permanent standing tribute to honor those we lost, the survivors of the attack, and the thousands affected"
- "Rebuild and return Club Q back to the Colorado Springs LGBTQIA+"
Former employees and third-party entertainer contractors will receive funds beginning Friday, Feb. 17. Those funds will be distributed using an "equitable formula that is being used to fairly determine how much each individual will be receiving," management said.
"The formula is based on an individual's historic average of net monthly earnings and is designed to help ensure there has not been a reduction of income during the last three months due to Club Q's abrupt closure," the statement reads.
Management will determine the net monthly earnings for each employee and entertainer, and then distribute up to three months wages in a single, lump sum payment.
Several other organizations are collecting money for Club Q victims, including the Colorado Healing Fund and National Compassion Fund.
Club Q management has endorsed the National Compassion Fund. A GoFundMe fundraiser created on behalf of the fund has collected more than $931,000.
In a document published in late January, the National Compassion Fund says those eligible for funds include:
- Loved ones of those killed in the shooting
- Those who were shot
- Those who suffered some other type of physical injury during the shooting
- Those who were at Club Q at the time of the shooting
Applications for funds must be submitted by March 8, and the fundraiser will close for donations on March 20. The National Compassion Fund hopes to approve a distribution plan on April 12, and begin distributing payments on April 19. For more information, click here. Those without access to the internet can call 844-743-3334, ext. 702 for guidance.
