The college owns property adjacent to the Coliseum nightclub, which it might acquire for $1.55-million.
By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
Published December 17, 2003
LARGO - One of Tampa Bay's most popular nightclubs could soon be taken over by St. Petersburg College, with no midnight dancing planned.
SPC wants to buy the Coliseum nightclub property for $1.55-million to make way for more parking and extra classrooms.
The possible deal was announced Tuesday during SPC's board of trustees meeting. College president Carl Kuttler said that both the owners of the Coliseum club and SPC had signed a letter of intent to work toward a sales contract.
If the deal goes through, SPC will combine the Coliseum's property with other, nearby college land. The deal would enhance the EpiCenter, an SPC building planned to house several Pinellas County departments and the college's top administrators.
"It's contiguous to our property," said Kuttler, who added that a contract between SPC and the Coliseum owners must still be drawn up and signed.
Located within the ICOT business center just off Ulmerton Road and U.S. 19, the $27-million EpiCenter is slated to open in late 2004. The Convention and Tourism Bureau and Worknet Pinellas are among the agencies that will use the space. If the Coliseum is acquired by SPC, the college could expand its four-year technology management program to Largo, Kuttler said.
The nightclub, which recently has had a spate of problems, approached SPC, Kuttler said.
But Coliseum nightclub representative Richard Fabrizi said the club at 13707 58th St. N is not being sold. The proposal is "vague," he said, and doesn't include a price for his actual business, Coliseum Entertainment Inc.
"There is no deal," Fabrizi said. "I don't even have it listed."
Fabrizi said he makes millions from the club and that SPC mailed him a letter two months ago stating its interest. "They came to me," Fabrizi said. "I called them back. I listened to what they had to say. There is no truth to that whatsoever unless they come in with more money than what they offered."
Over the years, the Coliseum has been known by many names: Living Room, Silver Club and Black Swan. The owners recently put in a new outdoor pool and outside deck for the purple and white-hued club with red velvet seats by the front door.
It continues to attract some 1,000 young adults Tuesday through Saturday nights, all paying between $5 and $7 to get in, said a general manager.
But in recent months, Coliseum management and city officials have wrangled over trouble at the club. In May, Largo's city attorney wrote a letter to Fabrizi threatening to shut the place down. In October, two people were shot and wounded on the property after a Tuesday night party.
The club agreed to hire 10 officers and one supervisor at an estimated cost of $1,000 a night, Largo police Chief Lester Aradi said.
Aradi didn't know about the proposed sale of the property, but said that if true, it would help.
"For the most part, the management of the Coliseum has worked with us," Aradi said. "In looking back on it, if the Coliseum left, our lives would be a little easier."
Fabrizi said the city has unfairly targeted his Hip-hop Night.
"It's the No. 1 music in America," Fabrizi said. "They're very racist about my Tuesday night."
The club also has nights for Gothic, techno, pop and '80s music.
The proposal is in the "early stages," said Laura St. Clair of Colliers Arnold real estate.
Largo Mayor Bob Jackson said he would be sad to see the club's $950,000 assessed property value taken off the tax rolls, but SPC would bring more prestige to the city.
SPC student Dave Roberts, 21, is a regular at the club.
"This stinks," Roberts said, while between classes at SPC's Clearwater campus. "It's a great atmosphere except for that one shooting. Every other time, it's been cool. It's the only club in Pinellas County that I have ever wanted to go to."
But Jacqueline Gavlick, 21, of Palm Harbor stopped going there after her purse was stolen.
"I don't care," Gavlick said. "They should put up a school there instead."
A letter of intent states that SPC would give R. Lee Fab Inc. a $15,000 deposit upon signing a contract to lease with an option to buy the Coliseum property for a total of $1.55-million. R. Lee Fab is Richard Fabrizi's company.
SPC would have a 100-year lease on the property with the option to buy it during those years. A $25,000 deposit would be given to R. Lee Fab Inc. after an inspection of the property.
The letter of intent, which was signed by both Kuttler and a representative of R. Lee Fab, states that both "parties will act in good faith" to reach an agreement by Friday.
After that, the SPC board would meet on Jan. 23 to hold a final vote on the property.
If everything is approved by both parties, SPC could close on the property in February or March of 2004.
Kuttler said he understands the place is popular but that SPC is not trying to cheat the area out of a club. "The owners are making that decision, not us," Kuttler said.
- Adrienne Samuels can be reached at samuels@sptimes.com Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
