Safety fears close Sammy's

RIP Sammy’s, the latest victim. I remember getting my photo taken out the front of there as a high school lad in 1985 with the 80's kiwi band, the Mockers. Long gone good old days.

Anyway!In the normal process of a case like this, the owners would have had an inspection and been given reasonable warning to take steps to sort the place out within a certain time. Some more doable measures would need to be acted on immediately eg more fire extinguishers, then more long term measures. This is a process common to most bureaucratic outfits, from cars through buildings to ships, that have to be retrofitted to meet new codes by a certain time, but not immediately.

Then the owners have a reasonable amount of time to meet the new requirements. Needless to say, this should have been the case here. But to walk in with no warning and shut them down, just as some big events were nigh? Who cares that a man's livelihood has been bowled over like that, and a long standing venue that possesses history and character might get knocked over?

But indeed, as has been mentioned elsewhere, there’s a pervading perniciousness on doing away with other venues. This was a cunning wee ploy to knock out competition for the stadium. It's the one of few times the DCC's actions are clear as crystal, as much as creating extra little ways of gathering revenue for it.

This town has truly become 'resident evil', sinking into a new dark abyss. Yes, it had a lot more going for it when I had that pic taken with the Mockers all those years ago.

Oh boy. This situation smells like many other acts of this bureaucracy in Dunedin. If Sammy's is pulled down, how many other venues will be left in Dunedin that can accommodate large numbers? The Regent is under threat, Sammy's may go,but wait.
A new venue is even now being constructed. Amazing timing. The only large number venues in Dunedin will be the Town Hall, Edgar Centre, Museum,and (gulp) the Colliseum, oops, stadium. Mmmmmmmmm? All owned by the DCC. If the Fire Service reported their concerns to the DCC about Sammy's, why did the DCC not follow up??

I think you have missed the point of this discussion. The main complaint is the sudden withdrawal of approval to hold the event (less than two days), not Mr Chin's so called obligations of some twenty-five years ago when, amongst other things, smoke detectors were not invented. I remember venues such as this one and including Picture theatres all had a Fireman in attendance. I wonder what happened to them?

If Mr Chin decides to demolish the building as a result of this, I can imagine the outcry that would occur. This building should have been purchased by the DCC instead of the Regent Picture theatre given the historical significance of it and its location where there is ample parking and ease of access which is certainly not the case in the middle of the Octagon.

I love Sammy's and have had some great nights out there. I, too, think that to lose it will be a sad day for Dunedin, but had  been aware that staff didn't know where the fire alarms were, that the fire exits were blocked in one case with, wait for it...kerosene, I may not have felt so comfortable dancing the night away.

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This building should have been fire rated long before the Deputy "read" about it in the newspapers. It would not have created this debacle of cancelling an event less than two days before the event and once again making Dunedin the laughing stock of New Zealand. 

The statement made by the Deputy that “He considered Sammy's "absolutely the worst" and most dangerous of Dunedin's large-crowd venues, and said the Fire Service had raised concerns about the building with the council over several years” raises two very important questions.

One, why has it taken several years to force the Council to act? And two, if Sammy’s is the worst and most dangerous of its type in Dunedin we must conclude that other venues are also dangerous for people to gather in. If it is indeed fact then act on it immediately and highlight not only Sammy’s but the other venues you allude to that are not safe for the general public to gather in.

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The events that Sammy's will have to cancel because of this will be a serious loss of revenue for this great venue whose team works hard to bring Dunedin's music scene up to scratch.

Sammy's provides our city with a genuinely valuable service, and they have safely hosted many great gigs. The problems that were highlighted about fire safety, such as items blocking passageways, are easily remedied.

This along with a bit of extra staff training about fire procedures should have seen the venue deemed allowed to operate until further improvements such as extra smoke detectors etc. are made.

But now, instead of getting ready to go to an awesome event featuring a selection of some of Dunedin's best dance music producers and DJ's that my friends and I have been looking forward to for weeks, I'll be staying at home, wondering if the DCC even really cares about Dunedin being a fun, vibrant and healthy place to live, or if they truly do just want a beaurocratised rugby headed booze fuelled zombie town.

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After opening up one hundred and fourteen years ago and regularly being used successfully and safely as an entertainment venue since, all of a sudden this building is a potential deathtrap.

Mmmm me smells a rat here, yes the big fat busy bureaucracy rat. A very interesting article under the title "Die, Culture, Die" can be found on the ODT's home page, this should be read in conjunction with the above.

The busyness of bureaucracy appears to be alive and well in Dunedin. Next victim please.

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And that's how it's done in this town.

Mr Chin should have known his obligations on purchase of the property and with any subsequent change of use or event held there.

Dunedin people and travelling entertainers and their crew must be guaranteed a safe venue. I'm surprised that paid event managers have also not done due diligence before booking the venue. 

Elizabeth Kerr
Dunedin

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