Arches Board To Appeal Closure

It’s taking legal advice about what it can do to challenge the decision that has left the club shut down. The issues with licensing first stemmed from drug misuse on the premises, largely as a result of one incident that took place last year when an underage clubber died.

The girl who died was found to have taken a “tainted” pill, although no action was taken against The Arches as it was found not to be at fault.

However, a couple of months ago an emergency closure order was enforced against The Arches, after police officers recorded an “unacceptable” number of drug and alcohol related incidents outside a popular trance night.

The event was attended by 2,000 people and 26 of them were arrested, which appears to have started a wave of negative publicity against the venue.

On May 15 Glasgow council’s licensing committee decided to close the club permanently.

The Arches claims it’s made a significant effort to assure the authorities that it views drug-taking very seriously and pointed out that during a review period only 0.14 percent of 250,000 visitors were reported for substance abuse.

“We are still stunned by the decision and at a loss to understand just what more we could have done to provide a safer clubbing environment at The Arches,” said venue executive director Mark Anderson. The Arches has collected 32,000 signatures on a petition appealing the closure.