The Party Is Over After Repeated Run-Ins With Law, All-Ages Dance Club Closing Down

Plagued by thinning crowds and legal troubles, the owner of a Spokane Valley all-ages dance club says he plans to close his doors at the end of the month.

Business that once was booming has slowed to a trickle, 23-year-old owner Visut Kaemuongmul said, forcing him to close The Sound Factory, 6515 E. Sprague.

Sheriff’s deputies busted four after-hours bashes this month at the dance club, and found alcohol on the premises each time. Kaemuongmul, who has owned the club since August, and the club’s manager, were both cited.

“The cops are just harassing me,” Kaemuongmul said, unable to explain why deputies might target him.

The Sheriff’s Department denied harassing Kaemuongmul.

“If (deputies) see a violation, what are they supposed to do? That’s their job,” said Lt. David Wiyrick, Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

This month was not the first time deputies have been called to the teen destination, previously known as Club Mario’s. In October, gunfire erupted at the club and spilled over onto the freeway during a car chase. No one was injured.

This week, Kaemuongmul said he plans to shut the club down at the end of February. Deputies said Kaemuongmul told them he is negotiating to buy the Lotus Garden restaurant and lounge, 14415 E. Sprague.

Kaemuongmul denied he is buying the restaurant and lounge.

Lotus Garden owner Paul Nguyen said he plans to sell the restaurant at the end of the month, but could not name the buyer.

“Hopefully it won’t be another problem,” Wiyrick said.

Kaemuongmul was cited on Feb. 3 and 9 for operating a dance hall after hours and for allowing alcohol in an unlicensed public place.

He was arrested on Feb. 17 for allowing alcohol in an unlicensed public place and cited again for operating after hours. Club manager Tina Lazorik also was cited on Feb. 10 for operating a dance hall after hours.

The Sound Factory is licensed to operate as a dance hall, but is not allowed to serve alcohol or have alcohol on the premises. Spokane County ordinance prohibits dance halls from operating after 2 a.m. without a special permit issued by county commissioners. The Sound Factory has never had such a permit.

“It continues to amaze me why he would continuing doing this,” Wiyrick said.

Friends and customers persuaded him to keep the club open later and later, Kaemuongmul said. They were having fun, sobering up and not ready to go home yet, he said.

“I thought, ‘Hey, why not stay open later?,”’ Kaemuongmul said. He reasoned that if Deja Vu, a Valley adult entertainment club, could stay open until 4 a.m., he could too.

All of the parties were busted between 3 and 4 a.m., deputies said.

After deputies cited him a second time, on Feb. 9, Kaemuongmul wrote county commissioners to ask for a permit to extend club hours to 5 a.m. Commissioners denied his request.

“Had you sought this extension by first securing permission rather than (being) cited for ignoring state statute relating to hours of operation - the outcome may have been different,” Commissioner Steve Hasson wrote in a Feb. 14 letter explaining the refusal to permit extended hours.

Commissioners also expressed concern that deputies kept finding alcohol at the teen dance club.

But Kaemuongmul called the alcohol problem minor, saying deputies only found a few beer bottles. He blamed the problem on a few “degenerate” customers.

Managers at neighboring businesses found that hard to believe. Garbage left in their parking lots over the last month by messy club-goers has not been the usual soda containers and fast food wrappers.

“Now it’s gone to beer bottles and wine bottles,” said Steve McKee, manager of Sound Mart, 6511 E. Sprague, which shares a parking lot with the teen club. “I’m tired of cleaning up my parking lot.”

The garbage that makes it into the Dumpsters is more of the same, McKee said. Heaps of bottles, cans and cups are commonly found on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

“It’d be like going to a bar’s Dumpster,” McKee said.

Lazorik said the piles of bottles are the result of alcohol being confiscated at the door. Club policy posted on the wall at the front door prohibits customers from having alcohol.

Any alcohol found inside the club was snuck in through fire escapes, Lazorik said.

“Any alcohol coming through (the front) door was confiscated, dumped and thrown away,” Lazorik said.

But Carlo Cerutti, Lazorik’s live-in boyfriend, said the alcohol policy changed after posted hours. Kaemuongmul closed his doors to minors at 2 a.m. and opened them to the bar crowd, Cerutti said.

“At first they started letting them bring in alcohol,” Cerutti said. “Then the cops came and (employees) made (patrons) drink in the parking lot.”

Although Kaemuongmul maintains the problem has been blown out of proportion, he does concede that he made a mistake.

“I should have stopped earlier. I didn’t know.”

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