The dancing has ceased at two popular downtown Springfield nightclubs, Zan the Nightclub and Boogie Cafe, according to owner Mike Jalili. Going forward, the Jalili family wants out of the nightclub business. The business' joint Facebook page, Zan the Club, also announced that both clubs would close permanently.
"We decided to close Boogie (and) Zan as we want to be out of the nightclub business and focus on our restaurants," Jalili told the News-Leader.
The evening of Saturday, March 23, was the last for both spaces. Jalili said that employees from both clubs would be offered work at one of the Jalili family's other restaurants. The family also owns the Springfield Black Sheep locations, Char Steakhouse & Oyster Bar, and Creek Side Pub, among other restaurants.
Zan and Boogie have both garnered reputations for violence and security concerns over the years, says On The Scene director Dominique Gabriella. She said that reputation tends to keep people away from downtown. Gabriella remembers working with one band who vowed never to return to Springfield after witnessing violence downtown.
"Nobody would want to come downtown," Gabriella said. "I know so many people that just stay away just because of what would go on there."
What are the safety and security concerns?
In August 2023, eight people were arrested outside of Zan when a fight broke out as the crowd was leaving. According to a Springfield Police Department press release, two men in their 20s were having an argument when one of them displayed a gun. He was disarmed by police, and both men were arrested.
A crowd circled as police tried to defuse the fight, and some started throwing glass bottles at the officers. Two other men, a 31-year-old and a 19-year-old, were also arrested after a brief struggle. One person, who fled the scene, broke the window of a patrol car. Another man who was arrested began dancing on the hood of a patrol car.
In April 2021, a shooting occurred outside Zan after a fight broke out between two men. A third man tried to intervene to break up the fight and was shot twice in the abdomen, according to past News-Leader reporting. In June of that year, charges were dropped by the Greene County Prosecutor's office, which could not prove that shooter wasn't acting in self-defense.
What's next for the Boogie Cafe and Zan the Nightclub?
According to Jalili, he plans to sell or lease the buildings that housed Boogie (321 South Ave.) and Zan (311 S. Patton Ave.). Gabriella hopes that whatever comes next for these spaces is different.
"We need to put something in those two places that will attract other people out here," she said. "Not just putting new clubs there that will attract the same kind of clientele."
She said if more nightclubs do move into the old locations, they should be bars catering specifically to older adults. Gabriella offered the idea of a 35-and-up nightclub. Or at least, she says, the new owners should do their research about how clubs in other cities have curbed violent behavior.
"It's not going to happen overnight," Gabriella said. "But I know I will feel safer walking in that area alone at night."
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