Colosseum back open after court agreement Will be strip club on certain days, gay club most nights BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Just a few days after Sayreville closed the Colosseum last week, the nightclub's attorney had it reopened. The Colosseum, on Routes 9/35, took its case to state Superior Court to expedite the process of reopening after the borough shut it down Aug. 14 following a series of violent incidents at the club. "They legally challenged the immediate closure," Police Chief Edward Szkodny said. The liquor license was returned as part of a court settlement agreement. The Colosseum agreed to review and change its styles of entertainment, Szkodny said. The club, which had been featuring live female dancers on weekend nights, will now be a strip club only during the day. At night it will hold gay events, except on Fridays, when it will be open to heterosexuals but with no hired dancers. The club will be closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays. "If there is any change in their schedule, they have agreed to notify the Sayreville Police Department and the borough for preapproval," Szkodny said. The borough revoked the license without a hearing, which the Colosseum claimed deprived the club of its due process rights. The Colosseum was shut down due to repeated incidents of fighting and alleged gunfire. Borough officials decided to revoke the liquor license after an Aug. 13 incident involving fights inside the club and shots allegedly fired in the parking lot. Police are investigating whether evidence was tampered with at the scene, since club security reportedly told police that shots were not fired in the club's parking lot. While no arrests were made and no injuries were reported in that incident, a security guard and two patrons were reportedly injured in another violent scene Aug. 5. Szkodny noted that while one of the suspects involved in the Aug. 5 incident may have been affiliated with a street gang, none of the incidents at the club were caused by gang violence. The borough's agreement to return the liquor license is only temporary. Szkodny said the borough has charged the business with various state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control [ABC] charges that will be heard later this month or in September. The six ABC charges, which are related to infractions from the Aug 13 incident, include allegations that the club violated the terms and conditions of its liquor license, attempted to hinder the investigation, and conducted business in a way that led to violence that affects the quality of life of residents and other people in the borough. The charges also allege that the club conducted its business "in such a manner as to become a nuisance requiring police intervention and adversely affecting the public safety and the rights of the public." The club also faces two additional offenses that will be heard in municipal court next month, Szkodny said. Those assert that the club maintained "a condition which endangers the safety or health of a considerable number of persons" between 2006 and 2007. In the charges, the borough describes security at the club as lax, leading to patrons fighting and the discharge of firearms. Szkodny said he could not comment on what he will recommend to the governing body in relation to the club. "I don't want to prejudice the case," he said. Borough officials said the Colosseum failed to meet the safety conditions and requirements that were agreed upon in the text of the nightclub's liquor license. In June, police recommended more than a dozen conditions before the council renewed the liquor license. The conditions followed what police described as a riot involving 80 patrons at the club last year, and a Shrewsbury man surviving a gunshot in the stomach a month later. In May, the club was shut down temporarily after gunshots were reportedly fired in the parking lot. Borough Council President Thomas Pollando said that if incidents at a club or bar are severe enough, the council can pull its liquor license. He added that even if the council decides to keep the Colosseum closed at the upcoming hearing, the ABC will make the final determination. "We don't want to see any more issues there," Pollando said. "We do the best that we can," he added, "but [the Colosseum] can always go back to the ABC to open up the club again. That's the law." The Colosseum has not returned messages left by the Suburban seeking comment.