CLOSURE OF CLUB OMNI WON'T BE THE END OF RAVES

Provo's own little battle with an "evildoer" in the eyes of the powers that
be came to a quiet end recently.

Club Omni, the embattled dance club downtown, closed its doors for good. To
anyone who has followed the saga of Club Omni, the reason appears obvious:
The city ran it out.

City leaders' antipathy, if not hostility, toward the dance club will
surely be ranked among the worst-kept secrets in America, right up there
with Rosie O'Donnell's sexual orientation (like anyone was surprised when
she "came out").

The city's 2001 dance hall ordinance -- which required almost as much
security at public dances as you find at airports -- had Club Omni's name
written all over it. The city also went to court to get a temporary
injunction barring the club from having supervised boxing matches, which
the club offered as a far safer alternative to the clandestine "fight club"
matches that were going on at the time.

Let's not forget how police shut down the club because the emergency exit
doors were opened for ventilation purposes. And later, the club was cited
for having the same doors locked. Make up your mind, people.

To casual observers, it appeared that the city was doing everything it
could to make life miserable for one business that didn't fit with the
moral vision some city leaders sought to impose on Provo, where you can't
use the city swimming pool on Sundays.

City officials said the dance hall rules were needed to crack down on the
rave dances where illegal drugs are sold and used.

Well, they got their wish. Club Omni is gone. And gone with it is the only
private dance club in the Provo-Orem area.

Just before Club Omni's critics get too far into their victory parade
plans, they may want to consider this: The closing of Club Omni won't mean
the end of rave parties.

In fact, it will likely result in the opposite.

You see, Club Omni was a great antidote to raves. The club had security and
banned alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Granted, there was a shooting
there that left a gang member killed, but nobody tried to shut down the
Provo motel where Gary Gilmore murdered a night clerk.

While there are campus dances for BYU students, and LDS Church dances,
other people who want to dance have no place to go. So, where do you think
they're going to kick up their heels?

That's right. The raves. You cut back the legal avenues, you merely direct
traffic toward the illegal ones. That's why Prohibition failed in the
1930s: People couldn't get liquor legally, so they sought it from organized
crime.

If the city is truly serious about getting rid of raves, they would make it
easier, not harder, for dance clubs to operate, thus providing legal, safe
venues for teens and young adults to dance.