Springfield club closed down for drug violation

Oz Nightclub, a gay club in Springfield, had its license suspended by the city License Commission after police uncovered a cocaine-dealing operation taking place on the premises. The club closed down on Aug. 15.

Oz will remain shuttered until it hires a new manager, who must be approved by both the city and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, a process that could take at least a month. Club owners must also install video cameras on both floors of the club in order to get their license reinstated.

Peter Sygnator, chairman for the Springfield Board of License Commissioners, said the club came to the attention of the board as a result of a police investigation. Last April, acting on tips from a confidential police informant, police arrested two people at the club for dealing cocaine. Sygnator said one of the dealers was a drag queen who identified himself to police as a bartender at the club. Police believe that the two dealers had been dealing cocaine out of the club on a regular basis.

The License Commission concluded that Oz management should have known that the drug dealing operation was taking place and should have taken steps to stop it. At an Aug. 14 hearing the commission found the club guilty of two violations, distribution and possession of a class B substance by people on the premises. The commission dropped a third charge, possession of a class B substance by an employee, because an attorney representing Oz claimed that the drag queen was not an employee, and Sygnator said the commission declined to investigate the drag queen's employment status at the club. Oz accepted the findings of the commission.

"After reading the report, in the eyes of the commission [the dealing] was not a onetime thing. It was an ongoing enterprise, something an observant manager should have been aware of," said Sygnator.

No one from Oz responded to multiple requests by Bay Windows to comment for this story. The Oz website includes a message about the closure that reads, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Oz Nightclub will be closed for the next four weeks."

The commission has scheduled a hearing on Aug. 28 for Oz, at which point owners may present a new club manager for approval. Should the commission give the new manager the nod, the club must then seek the approval of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, which Sygnator said would likely take between four and six weeks to issue a decision.

"And if [the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission] approve the new manager Oz will be allowed to open under the new manager," said Sygnator.

The cocaine arrests are the first violation Oz has received. Sygnator said the License Commission has a zero tolerance policy, and if Oz had had previous violations on its record the drug arrests would have prompted the License Commission to permanently revoke the club's license.