Audio By Carbonatix
Steven Rogers’ downtown Phoenix dance club empire is about to expand.
The nightlife entrepenuer (who owns the Central Avenue strip containing the fiery DWNTWN, the gothy Palazzo, and the tony Amsterdam) is preparing open a new joint called Sanctum sometime in the late summer/early fall.
The club will take over the former location of lesbian bar e-Lounge on Seventh Avenue in the Melrose District, which Rogers is in the process of transforming into a splendorous European-style danceteria.
While Rogers hasn’t been forthcoming with any details, we’ve spoken with an anonymous source who’s involved with the project and here’s what we’ve heard thus far:
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He’s reportedly sparing no expense when it comes to the club and has been busy buying up myriad antique fixtures, furnishings, and artwork from defunct churches across both Europe and the U.S. to help provide Sanctum’s decor with some Gothic touches and adding the Baroque feel of a vintage house of worship.
The top-of-the-line sound system supposedly cost into the “tens of thousands” to create and install and will broadcast a mix of Euro-style trance and electronic music.
Rogers is no stranger to epic establishments. Long before he started drawing vamps and vixens the luxurious Palazzo, he worked at NYC’s legendary Studio 54 back in the day and founded infamous local clubs The Works and Crowbar in the ’90s. Sanctum’s already getting a bit of Internet buzz on local EDM message boards from DJs and other dance music fans eager to take a peek at his latest enterprise.
Although its located in the heart of the GLBT district, we’re sure it will have the same “pansexual” feel of his previous establishments and attract a wide cross-section of peeps from hipsters to hip-hopppers, regardless of their particular bent.
