Hurricane Michael damage closes Club La Vela for Spring Break
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Once the headquarters for Spring Break in Panama City Beach, Club La Vela announced Thursday it will be closed for the 2019 Spring Break holiday because of damage from Hurricane Michael.
“Hurricane Michael which devastated thousands of businesses and homes in the Panama City area has also caused severe damage to Club La Vela preventing a reopening in time for Spring Break,” a post on the superclub’s Facebook page stated.
The club also was damaged by a small fire earlier this month. According to the post, the closure is temporary and management intends to reopen the club, though no date has been set.
“I understand that they had some damage from the hurricane and also had a small electrical fire several weeks ago,” Panama City Beach Mayor Mike Thomas said. During an inspection after the blaze, city officials found that significantly more structural repairs were needed to the building.
“The problem with most older buildings is that it is very hard to get back up to code” after those incidents, Thomas said.
Thomas said the city undoubtedly will lose tax revenues from the delayed opening of the club, but noted that the spike in bed tax collections in the aftermath of the storm because of the influx of first responders and contractors will more than offset such losses.
“The city will be fine,” Thomas said.
La Vela, dubbed the largest nightclub in the USA, is one of the iconic Spring Break locations in Panama City Beach, gaining worldwide fame as networks like MTV broadcast from the club during Spring Break. The club regularly hosts a series of concerts during Spring Break, attracting well-known artists generally in the R&B, rap and hip-hop scenes.
Also absent from the Spring Break scene this year will be neighboring Spinnaker Beach Club, where officials announced last month that they plan to rebrand as Spinnaker Beachside Grill opening in the spring.
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