The Diamond Lounge, a sometimes infamous fixture of Bonney Lake’s nightlife, has closed its doors after four years of business.
Owner Steve Crossley shuttered the business, located at 18701 Sumner-Buckley Highway, on August 17 following an apparent decrease in revenue. The official announcement was made the day prior via a status update on the bar’s Facebook page.
It read: “With much regrets, we have decided to make tonight our last night open at the Diamond Lounge. We will be opening the doors at 9 p.m. Come party with us one last time!”
Crossley could not be reached for comment on the closure, but information from peripheral sources paint a picture of the bar’s popularity and conflicts with neighbors, police, the city and the state liquor control board.
Opening and success
Diamond Lounge was converted from Papa’s Italian Kitchen, a family restaurant, to a nightlife venue in 2006 after being granted an exemption to a city ordinance preventing such establishments from being within 1000 feet of residential properties. It was a night club in the truest senseóreplete with DJs, go-go dancers and the colorful personalities on the party promotion sceneóand the first business of its kind in low-density Bonney Lake.
It was also successful. Specific revenues are unknown, but an estimate from business database company Manta pegged annual sales at upwards of $500,000 a year. The small parking lot was frequently full to the point of overflow during peak hours.
Neighbor problems
But problems became apparent early on, many of which stemmed from the code exemption that allowed the Lounge to exist in the first place.
“A lot of the problems there—DUIs, disorderly conduct and such—are typical for any drinking establishment,” Bonney Lake Police Chief Mike Mitchell said. “The biggest issue is that it was a commercial business butting up against residential space.
“We’ve also had complaints about things like beer bottles and condoms being thrown over the fence into the neighboring yard.”
The southern property line of the club directly abuts two residential lots on 88th Street East, and multiple noise complaints came from that and other homes in the neighborhood.
The noise issue was brought before city council multiple times, particularly while the council was crafting the city noise ordinance. One notable meeting occurred on February 26, 2008. By this time, the Lounge had one disorderly conduct violation under the state Liquor Control Board and was the location of multiple police calls on patrons. Police patrol cars began parking in the lot during business hours, laying in wait for offenders.
Nine Bonney Lake citizens gave public comment at the meeting, eight of whom spoke in support of the establishment. Direct neighbor Melanie Castrelli represented 88th Street residents who had complained about late night noise.
In a public statement that went into approved overtime, Crossley commended the Planning Commission for its work and said he would not mind a noise ordinance. He reminded the council that the city had allowed the lounge to open to bring new business to the area and he invited them to visit and see that the clientele were a friendly group of people.
Both the police and the Courier-Herald had disrespected the establishment with inordinate attention and inaccurate depictions of the business and its customers as a nuisance, he said.
In March, the city recorded the decibel levels of four area bars, including the Diamond Lounge. The lounge had the lowest decibel reading of the locations.
Those numbers were not satisfactory to Castrelli, who testified before the council again in April 2009. By that time she had moved away and begun renting her 88th Street house to a young couple. The young couple ran into the same noise issues, often not going to bed until the bar closed after midnight, she said.
“People don’t want to call the police until they’re at the end of their rope,” Mitchell said. “It’s hard having people ask for help and not being able to help them.”
Mitchell noted that call-in complaints about the lounge had diminished in recent months, at the same time several neighbors had chosen to move away.
Competition and closure
Despite continued friction with neighbors and police, the lounge maintained a brisk business. There are many bars along or near the main stretch of state Route 410, but the Lounge was the only bona fide nightclub, cornering the market.
A subversive attitude can be an asset in the professional party industry. An example is the website for Pure Productions—a party promotion company that worked with Diamond Lounge every Tuesday—features its owner Ric Kenworthy brandishing his middle finger at the camera and, thus, all page visitors. The product nightclubs sell is, in part, an escape and rebellion against everyday life. Attention from the city and the press provided the narrative of stuffy authority trying its best to end—unsuccessfully—everyone’s favorite party.
Zato Bar & Grill opened in late 2009. Officially, the new business was a lunch and dinner restaurant, but owner Maximo Ansola planned from the beginning for it to have a nightlife aspect. All the ingredients of a nightclub were there: a bar stocked to the ceiling, young and attractive waitstaff, live bands, dance parties with DJs and promoted by Pure Productions and recorded by nightclub photographers.
It’s unknown what created the conditions for the lounge to close, but in its last months it was faced with something it had never had before: competition. Customers were faced with the choice of going to an established and fun night spot that was prone to complaints and police attention, or to try someplace new in a large, well-lit parking lot with no sleeping neighbors.
“We were all surprised when we heard the Diamond Lounge had closed,” Zato Marketing Director Libby Zoltani said. “But then we planned for what we would do.”
Zoltani and her colleagues immediately organized a Diamond Lounge Patrons Dedication Week from Aug. 21 to 28 for customers of the suddenly defunct establishment.
“We didn’t know if those were the clients we wanted to bring in, but we thought we would give it a try,” Zoltani said.
The Diamond Lounge building is for sale under Puget Sound Properties.
