A controversial Lawrence nightclub has surrendered its liquor license, closed its doors and been put up for sale, after being repeatedly ordered by a judge to stop operating illegally.
Club Axis, 821 Iowa, was ordered in September to pay the city $11,500 in legal fees and told it would be fined $100 per day if it kept operating without having an approved number of parking spaces, as required by city code.
The city brought the club to court after police connected multiple stabbings and shootings over the years to the establishment, previously known as Moon Bar.
A “For Sale” sign has been posted on the front of the club's building and the Kansas Department of Revenue said the owners surrendered the club's state liquor license on Tuesday.
The owners of the club are due back in court next Tuesday for a hearing in front of Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone. An attorney for the club said an appeal has been filed in the case.
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gsxr600 (anonymous) says…
Nice.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
very nice
Practicality (anonymous) says…
Although I do believe this establishment should be closed, the usual patrons are just going to head off to the next Lawrence bar that caters to them. Maybe downtown again?
ksdivakat (anonymous) says…
My guess is next stop is that dive at 19th and Haskell...I think its called the dog, or something like that, I hear things about the riff raff that go in there too.
Ricky_Vaughn (anonymous) says…
There's always Brothers...
shorttrees (anonymous) says…
My bet is the club at 24th and Iowa, Chateau 24 or whatever.
Danimal (anonymous) says…
Hahaha, the Chateau? Isn't that place a gay dance club? I know it's owned by the same dude that owns Henry's on 8th so I doubt it will become the new thug hangout.
Good riddance to Club Axis, maybe Club Allies will open in its place. Unfortunately it's only a matter of time before someone opens another bar to cater to Axis' unsavory clientele.
ferrislives (anonymous) says…
Thank the good God above, but where will that group go now? It's like trying to control a group of ants or cockroaches.
cait48 (anonymous) says…
I really miss the restaurant that used to be there. Country something? It was an all night coffee/breakfast joint that was a good alternative to Perkins/IHOP. It got kind of run down before it closed; cracks in the vinyl of the booths and that kind of thing. Either way it was something on the north side of town.
handlon (anonymous) says…
R.I.P. Club Axis of Evil. Now the patrons will head back downtown to the new piano bar on New Hampshire. It should be an interesting mix of piano karaoke, rap & gunfire........
jehovah_bob (anonymous) says…
Bring back the Village Inn.
ostrich (Alison Carter) says…
We need that Pancake House to return....that was the best!
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
villlage inn making a comeback!
I want bacon!
aha (anonymous) says…
Bring back Village Inn!!
gccs14r (anonymous) says…
Village Inn was a late-night haven when up late studying.
sunny (anonymous) says…
Buy the building and put what ever you complainers want in there.
toe (anonymous) says…
I guess the parking lot behind Clinton dam will be busier than ever now.
beerguy (anonymous) says…
Club axis had more parking spots then any other club in town, obviously the Socialist Republic of Lawrence was just flexing its muscles. I feel bad the for the owner of the land (not club) as he has a $8,000 a month mortgage on the place. We can't all marry into wealth like Doug Compton.
LarryNative (anonymous) says…
Beerguy,
What money did Doug C. marry? Can you be more specific?
The "guy" who owns the building is about 15 asian people.
kulinebacker (anonymous) says…
well ...now I'm sad...err..ha!
ParaKnowYa (anonymous) says…
LarryNative,
What do you mean by "Asian?" Can you be more specific? Cambodian? Korean? Japanese? Or are you using the European euphemism for Muslim?
And you're not the only "LarryNative" here, you know.
beerguy (anonymous) says…
The building is not owned by 15 Asian people.
lawrenceguy (anonymous) says…
Lawrence just never been the same since Villiage Inn left town...
beerguy (anonymous) says…
Just because a Chinese man has three middle names and a first and last, doesn't make it 15 Asians.
LarryNative (anonymous) says…
Beerguy,
I have to admit your last comment was funny. I exaggerated. The building, when it was the Moon Bar, had several owner's. I was involved in a business matter and the property came up in question. During the meeting, we were privvy to the names of the owners and the bank loan info. All I remeber was there were a lot of co-signers on the note and rate was the highest I have ever seen.
Para, I have no idea what your comment is about but I use the term Asian because I do not know the exact origin of these people. If you would like me to guess I would say Chinese or Vietnamese.
Also, I like how everyone on the thread "loved" Villiage Inn and yet it closed from lack of business. When a business closes, it's like when a person dies. You only remember the good things. Village Inn was a nasty, dirty, dump staffed by a bunch of carnies.
grammaddy (anonymous) says…
Not to worry, someone will come along and change everything but the clientele and it will be open under a new name. The city will issue a new license for the new owners and we'll all be meeting back here again.How many times have we seen this happen. Hey whatever happened to the old "Knife and Gun" club in North Lawrence. Haven't heard anything about any craziness over there in a while. I believe it was called Los Amigos or 508 or something.
ferrislives (anonymous) says…
I'm probably dating myself, but I do miss going to the Village Inn after church on Sundays as a kid. It would be wonderful if they'd bring it back.
OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…
I heard it was owned by 23 midgets.
coolmom (anonymous) says…
i used to really like the village inn as well. the coffee table was an interesting place to be, also i spent a lot of time there studying. it did start to get somewhat faded. that place has been closed for like 10 years hasnt it?
kansasfire911 (anonymous) says…
You know what this town could use in that location? Another oriental restaurant!!
beerguy (anonymous) says…
Well larrynative now you can see why the mortgage is $8,000 a month. The rent for club axis was only $6,000 and even that was too high for the market. It was a bad business investment. But I wish Americans shared this sense of family by not being afraid to co sign to help your friend's business dreams come true. And I'm not talking about opening a thug bar. And the village Inn was crap, my mom use to work there and even back then she told me to never eat there.
beerguy (anonymous) says…
I wish I did own it two years ago when they were making $20,000-$30,000 a month, but now I'm glad I didn't. I'm just a close friend of the group, excluding the main axis owner, he seemed like a thug to me. He was always bragging about how much he was making. And Lawrence is very anti-business, money is leaving this town fast. I wouldn't invest here unless I knew people like Doug Compton who knows how to control city hall.
newsomebody (anonymous) says…
You want inside info, here it is. Axis wan't always ruff. Before Last Call closed, Axis had very few problems, it actually had the least number of fights of all the major bars in lawrence. Even after Last Call closed down, there was still no more problems than any other bar. Facts: There was a shooting at 2:03 a.m. on the night of it's 2 year party. The only people there were the employees and the people involved in the shooting. The other shooting happened between the merc and the BBQ place on the 4th of July weekend. They weren't even patrons of Axis. The stabing that happened at Burger King, the majority of the people involved came from the Pool Room, not Axis. It doesn't matter if Axis is closed or not. When Last Call closed, all it's problems moved to Axis. Axis did alot better job at handling these issues than Last Call. Last call had shootings every few weeks, compared to Axis who had two in over 2 1/2 years. I'm not saying that is a great thing, one shooting is to much. The problems Axis had will just move to another bar. The other bar owners didn't want Axis to close because they where able to control the problems better than any other bar in town. The Hawk had 3 people shot earlier this year in one night and had a stabbing last year. There was shots fired outside of 23rd St Brewery and outside of the Granada this year. Jet lag had multiple people get stabbed one night last year when it was closing. Axis wasn't shut down cause it was opperating against the law either. It was given an occupancy of 352 when it opened. The city later disagreed with that and stated it had to return to 225, submit a site plan that gave it a different occupany, or close. In december 2008, judge rulled that Axis couldn't opperate at 352. Axis returned to opperateing at 225 after this ruling. It requested an occupancy sign of 225, but was denied it due to the pending law suit. It was found in contept of court due to opperating at 352 because basicly it still had a 352 occupancy sign hanging. Fire marshall's even testified that Axis was opperating at 225 since the December court ruling. The "occupancy" sign is a saftey sign stating how many people can be in the premise and still get out of the building safely if there was a fire or emergency. Axis closed due to all the negative publicity by the LJW, the harrasment from the city, and to keep from bankrupcy. The city didn't want it there due to the fact it was a minortiy bar on Saturday night. The building is owned by a man and his wife currently. They are very respectable people and would do just about anything to help there friends and family out. An appeal is filed, and for good reason. Axis will never reopen as a nightclub, I can assure you that. Side note, in the past 2 1/2 years, Axis did several charity events, helped student groups at KU raise money for their cause, and employeed over 25 KU students that needed work.
newsomebody (anonymous) says…
Also beerguy, Axis NEVER made $20,000 a month, it never even made half that!! He hunts, fishes, works construction, wears Levis and wranglers, and listens to country music. Sound like a thug to me.
beerguy (anonymous) says…
Hey newsomebody I really don't know the guy he wasn't in the original group of people I knew, but what ever he told you is not I've been told, Maybe he was lying or maybe one of my friends was lying, but I really don't care.
beerguy (anonymous) says…
Now that I think about it newsomebody, you sound alot like their lawyer, either way at least we can agree that the city was over stepping its authority.
newsomebody (anonymous) says…
Which owner you talking about??
Calliope877 (anonymous) says…
newsomebody -
The midgets...
Practicality (anonymous) says…
newsomebody (Anonymous) says…
"Before Last Call closed, Axis had very few problems, it actually had the least number of fights of all the major bars in lawrence. "
Wow, I didn't know there was a statitician who keeps track of all the fights in each individual bar in Lawrence.
"The other shooting happened between the merc and the BBQ place on the 4th of July weekend."
I always knew those dirty hippies at the Merc were packing heat, that is why I don't shop there, the crowd is too thugish for me.
"The Hawk had 3 people shot earlier this year in one night and had a stabbing last year. There was shots fired outside of 23rd St Brewery and outside of the Granada this year. Jet lag had multiple people get stabbed one night last year when it was closing."
Here is where we cut to the chase. Most of these incidents, and many, many, more acts of crime committed in Lawrence were the direct result of out of town patrons leaving your bar. That is why nobody wants your bar to remain open.
newsomebody (anonymous) says…
Practicality: First, Axis wasn't open on the night of shooting at the Hawk or 23rd St Brewery. Second: Axis been closed since begginning of September. Why all the problems happening still than around town?? So it's all Axis's fault these crimes happened? Fight at Jayhawk Tower's, KU baskeball player hurt, Axis to blame. Man threatens to shoot KU students on campus, Axis to blame. They left the bar and went to campus right? All of the incidents i listed at other bars happened before 1:30 a.m. Axis didn't even let out till 1:40. The people involved where people that where inside those bar's for most of the night. But you believe what you want. You probably think Jesse Fray's articles are more true than false too.