State regulators have dealt another blow to the controversial downtown nightclub Last Call.

Secretary of Revenue Joan Wagnon late Friday afternoon denied a request by Last Call owner Dennis Steffes to keep the club open while he appeals a previous state decision to yank the club’s liquor license.

The ruling leaves the future operations of the club, 729 N.H., uncertain. An attorney for Steffes was seeking late Friday to get a Shawnee County District Court judge to overturn Wagnon’s decision. The outcome of that effort was unclear.

But Last Call attorney Dan Owen said earlier in the day that the club would be open one way or the other. He said absent a state liquor license, Last Call would open tonight as a dance club that doesn’t serve alcohol.

“The city will never be able to outlaw a dance floor, even if it doesn’t like the dancers, their clothing, the music or the way they dance,” Owen said in a statement.

Owen has argued that the city has targeted Last Call because it plays hip-hop music and attracts a largely black crowd, allegations the city denies.

If the club were to open without selling alcohol, it would not be subject to the state-mandated closing times that bars must follow, Owen said.

Scott Miller, an attorney for the city, said Owen is correct that there is no law that would stop the business from opening as an alcohol-free establishment and staying open late.

“I don’t know of any law prohibiting them from having a dance after 3 a.m.” Miller said, referring to the bar’s previous closing time.

But Miller said he expected the city to monitor how the club operates, and determine whether the City Commission needed to create new ordinances in response.

In denying Last Call’s request to stay open, Wagnon on Friday cited testimony that the club was the site of “consistent” illegal drug use, and that the club’s management made “minimal or no effort” to prevent the drug use. Wagnon said to allow the club to stay open during the appeal period in light of those findings would be “detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the general public.”

Owen has said an appeal regarding Last Call’s license could take a year or more. He previously has argued that not allowing the club to operate during the appeal would “destroy” the business.

But during state liquor license hearings late last month, it was suggested that Last Call makes a significant portion of its income from cover charges. The club often charges $20 or more to enter.

It also was unclear whether Last Call would try to operate as a club that allows patrons to bring their own alcohol. A handful of businesses have operated in that manner across the state. Miller said the city was researching whether that would be legal in Lawrence.