Employees and the owner of a Minneapolis music club, which was ravaged by a February fire caused by pyrotechnics, are donating some of the proceeds from their grand reopening to The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund.
Employees at the Fine Line Music Cafe will donate half their tips on the night of the club's grand reopening on July 24 to The Station relief fund, which helps the fire victims and their families. The Station fire came three days after the blaze in Minneapolis.
Club owner Dario Anselmo said he will match his employees' donations. The contractor that helped to rebuild the damaged club, McCarthy Construction, has also offered to match the employees' donations.
Boogie Wonderland, the headlining band at the July 24 reopening, will also contribute to the fund.
"We were probably the second-most-moved place in the country," said Anselmo about The Station fire. "We had an eerily similar situation, except with a different outcome."
The grand reopening comes after five months of lost business and renovations since the Feb. 17 fire, which was caused by a pyrotechnics accident during a musical performance.
The club was equipped with several sprinklers and ample exits, according to fire officials. Everyone escaped the blaze uninjured.
On Feb. 20, a pyrotechnic display at The Station nightclub, in West Warwick, caused a fire that killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. The Station did not have sprinklers.
The Fine Line has undergone about $1.5 million in renovations. Much of renovation costs were covered by insurance, but Anselmo estimates he has spent about $200,000 out of pocket, paying some employees during the closure and other expenses.
The Fine Line opened Wednesday for the first time since the fire, but it has scheduled its reopening celebration for July 24. Anselmo said he expects that his staff will generate $3,000 to $4,000 in tips that night.
The staff got the idea to donate half their tips to The Station Fire Relief Fund from a St. Paul bar, which did the same thing to benefit the Fine Line after its fire.
Anselmo said he and the Fine Line's staff might have struggled financially during the past five months, but in deciding to donate to The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund, they are keeping the situation in perspective.
Unlike many employees and patrons at the West Warwick club, Anselmo said of the employees at the Minneapolis club, "they all have their lives."
DIGITAL EXTRA: Recap coverage of The Station fire and its aftermath, visit a memorial to its victims, view photos, documents and more at:
http://projo.com/extra/2003/stationfire/
