Though the sound system at Natalie's hasn't pumped out tunes for a month, some noise is still being made about why the private club actually shut down at midnight on June 30.
Majority owner Craig Rippen blames Salt Lake City and Dakota Lofts' residents for the club's demise and is threatening a lawsuit.
"It just became impossible to deal with. The police were out almost nightly harassing us because homeowners would call," he said. "At the end of June, I knew I couldn't beat the politics. It was just time to say, 'Enough's enough,' and just walk away from it."
But some city officials claim it's the nightclub's own fault. Rippen was, after all, the one who didn't renew his liquor and business licenses. Residents are relieved it closed and thrilled that a reputed (and less raucous) national restaurant franchise — rumored to be Ruby Tuesday — is considering moving in.
As for the establishment's namesake, WNBA star Natalie Williams is disheartened that her once-promising venture is now as defunct as her former team, the Utah Starzz.
"It's very unfortunate," said Williams, now with the Indiana Fever. "It was a very successful and very fun club."
Problem was, one group's idea of success and fun fit another group's definition of nightmare and nuisance. That led to a falling out among the neighbors and eventually to police, a city councilwoman and city prosecutor getting involved in a bitter squabble about conflicting lifestyles. An underlying question was whether a nightclub night club and downtown residents could and should even attempt to live happily ever after together.
In this case, they couldn't.
Let the finger-pointing begin.
This wasn't a problem at first.
When Natalie's opened two weeks before the 2002 Olympics, it was a ritzy sports bar, restaurant and social club that appealed to a highbrow crowd. After a management change a few months later, however, the focus, menu and clientele shifted into what Rippen called a "full-blown nightclub."
It was a lucrative transition for Natalie's. Especially on Saturdays and Mondays — aka hip-hop nights. Rippen drained his life savings to buy it in January and boasts it became "the most popular club downtown. It was the place to be."
For clubbers and police, Natalie's received a noise nuisance infraction, disorderly conduct, and a shooting occurred in the vicinity, some people urinated in public while others loitered long after closing.
"Natalie's started out as a high-end restaurant and it evolved into a sleazy nightclub," said Dakota Lofts property manager John Greene. "They're (residents) glad they're gone. It's the best thing that's happened. Homeowners were terrorized. It was ruining their lives. . . . Homeowners felt incredibly unsafe because of the crowd Natalie's attracted. It really got out of control."
They contemplated legal action but asked for the city's help. A community-action group met three times and residents were advised to patiently await a 30-day non-enforcement period during which Natalie's made some costly changes. Among the improvements, Rippen rewired his entire sound system, dropping down to four speakers; spent $1,500 to improve parking-lot conditions; hired extra bouncers; and rented space above his club to try to buffer the noise levels.
"Craig, to his credit, was really very responsive to the concerns of the residents," said City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton. "He was kind of the most ideal business owner we could ask for, but it still didn't work."
"He did everything to accommodate them and they still wanted him out," Williams said. "If you're going to live downtown, you've got to expect some noise. If you want it to be quiet, go to the suburbs."
Rippen felt forced out because, as a sign he posted on his window purported, "the people above and Salt Lake City didn't like our crowd." Especially frustrating for him was that the spot is zoned for a club/restaurant.
Similar controversies occur at other downtown locales where living and clubbing spaces intersect. Compromise is essential to making it successful.
"That's the philosophy of the night life in Salt Lake — to make partnerships like this work if they can," said detective Jason Hathaway of the Salt Lake Police Department. "Just try to make a peaceful cohabitation."
Rippen was irked that city representatives urged Dakota tenants to call the police with legitimate concerns or complaints. Four patrons were ticketed for spitting on the street.
"That's just ridiculous. That's just harassment," Rippen said. "The city has to take responsibility for this. They were trying to run me out of business."
Saxton informed residents how to get complaints heard and dealt with if warranted. She doesn't want people to "suffer to the point they're irate" and then force a confrontation. Her advice was heeded and police calls increased drastically.
"I don't think that is necessarily giving anybody the recipe to put anybody out of business," she insists.
Detective Jason Hathaway of the Salt Lake Police Department says police tried to help Rippen and residents "peacefully coexist." And he was surprised that Natalie's closed "out of the blue" because progress was being made. Saxton suspects finances had more to do with the closure than anything else.
"I explained to him we're not headhunting anybody," Hathaway said. "We didn't pressure him or force him or say we're going to put you out of business. That wasn't our intent at all. All the city was doing was answering the questions of the citizens . . . (by) enforcing compliance to laws that are already in place."
E-mail: jody@desnews.com