Club C2K files suit against Venetian

Kim Smith

Friday, Sept. 1, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Club C2K is asking a District Court judge to prevent the Venetian hotel-casino from permanently closing its doors.

According to a lawsuit filed late Thursday, the Venetian required Silver Hammer of Nevada to vacate the nightclub's lease on Aug. 15 and then retook the property on Wednesday.

The Venetian had sent Silver Hammer notice that it had defaulted on its lease in July, complaining that the nightclub has "current, ongoing and seemingly endless safety and security problems."

In its lawsuit Thursday, however, Silver Hammer said that although the notice of default was "nonmaterial, vague and untimely" officials had met with Venetian officials and addressed the issues.

The company also noted that before June 26, the resort had never raised issues about the club.

Silver Hammer has asked District Judge Gene Porter to prevent the Venetian from closing the nightclub. It is also asking for unspecified damages.

A spokesman for the hotel-casino said this morning, "The Venetian believes it did the right thing in shutting down C2K and we are prepared to defend our position in court."

Two weeks ago the Clark County Commission requested a formal review of popular nightclubs along the Las Vegas Strip, in part because of complaints about how C2K was handling drug use and drunken customers.

According to the lawsuit, H & H of Nevada signed a 20-year lease with the Venetian in June 1997 with the understanding that a nightclub would be opened at the hotel-casino.