When Kelly Richardson heard that 21 people had been crushed to death in the stairwell of the E2 nightclub, she wept. When she heard city officials trying to explain how the club had managed to stay open even though a judge had ordered it closed, she rolled her eyes. “I cried over those kids like they were mine,” she says. “But when I heard those city officials talking about how there was nothing they could do to keep that club closed–man, what a joke. Take it from me, the city knows how to shut someone down.”
“They came at me like Miami Vice,” says Richardson. “Sometimes it was the same cops, sometimes it was different ones. They’d say, ‘Where’s your license?’”
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That June I wrote my story about Richardson. A spokesman for the revenue department told me that there was nothing personal about the city’s investigation of her coffeehouse. “Trust me, our department’s not picking on this place–there’s no conspiracy to keep them from opening,” he said. “But they cannot throw functions without [the proper license]. We’re not treating them any differently than anyone else. Whether we get a tip or we do routine license checks, we are going to enforce the law.”
In November she closed the 75th Street club and started moving back into the mansion. She was there on Monday, February 17, when a friend called to tell her about the deaths at E2.
Richardson plans to reopen her club at 4500 S. Michigan on March 8. “We’ll have an open mike for poets and musicians–anyone who’s interested should call me at 773-297-1843,” she says. “I miss the old space. Everyone tells me, ‘When you were up there that was the spot.’ They still have a For Rent sign up in that window. Nobody’s rented it yet. I always go by there and think about what might have been. But for whatever reason the city didn’t want me there. And when the city wants you out, they have ways of getting you out.”
