The Manium — one of the very few places in Olympia that cater to an all ages music crowd — has been shut down by inspectors for “major public-safety issues,” according to the City of Olympia. You may have heard about it. The alleged violations stem from extensive remodeling done to the Manium, which sits at 421 Fourth Ave. E, much of which the Manium admits was done without the proper permits. City inspectors also cited the Manium for not having a proper sprinkler system, too few exits, improper exit lighting, and the need for a seismic evaluation.



Since last week, when the closure became the subject of public debate, City of Olympia officials have been bombarded by public outcry advocating for the Manium’s reopening. Supporters of the Manium have rallied, made phone calls, and written angry emails — all in the hope of convincing the city to reconsider its decision. The organic movement has been, if nothing else, very Olympia.



At the same time, the sight of a closed and vacant Manium is a delight for some within Olympia’s community. After a significant article in the Monday, Sept. 24 edition of the Olympian, comments posted on the newspaper’s Web site by readers were proof of this different voice.



“Any business of this type with the same violations would be declared unsafe. ... isn’t safety important? It would be bad press for the city to allow people to become injured/killed because they turned a blind eye to safety,” proclaims just one of the 74 comments the article had generated by 7 p.m. of the night it was published.



At this point, four things look certain. Number one: the Manium is closed. Number two: This pisses a lot of people off, and at the same time makes a surprising number of people very happy. Number three: the Manium has admitted in the Olympian and in an interview with the Weekly Volcano to “not playing by the rules.” Number four: The City of Olympia doesn’t like it when you publicly question their authority.



After that it’s a crapshoot. Your opinion probably depends on who you are and what you believe.



As with most controversies, there are at least two sides to the Manium debate.

For its part, the City of Olympia cites public safety as the reason for the Manium’s closure. The City Council has been quoted publicly likening the Manium to “The Station” — the Rhode Island nightclub where 100 people died at a Great White show in 2003. Since people involved with the Manium, such as sound and lighting technician Chris Beug, started drawing public attention to the Manium’s plight, the City of Olympia has not only been the target of protest for those upset with the decision to close the club, they’ve mounted an equally aggressive public stance to counter that sentiment.



“After walking through the structure and discovering that all areas had been remodeled and uses had changed, we placed a ‘Stop Work’ order on the site pending them submitting the appropriate plans for review and permits,” explains Olympia Permitting and Inspection Services Manager Tom Hill in an e-mail to the Weekly Volcano.



“We followed up with a Code Enforcement Notice of Violation Action letter, disallowing any further occupancy of the structure pending the plan review, permitting and inspection process. Staff feels this is a necessary step to ensure that all safety items within this structure are in compliance.”



While Beug admits significant remodeling took place at the Manium without the proper permits from the city, he contends this was a conscious decision based on the difficulties the Manium has had dealing with the City of Olympia in the past. The Manium was closed once before, in 2005, for similar safety violations. Beug says he and others in charge at the Manium were attempting to avoid the “ridiculous bureaucratic rigmarole” that surrounded the club’s previous dealings with the City of Olympia — dealings that also culminated with the club’s temporary closure. 



Most of all, Beug was upset about the picture the city is painting, comparing the Manium to the Station in Rhode Island. He referred to such characterizations as “paranoid delusions” that were “nothing short of ludicrous.”



“The Manium is not unsafe. It’s not a threat to life. That’s the city’s line, comparing us to the Great White thing. That level of disaster isn’t even possible. The Manium is a big concrete box,” says Beug.



“Anytime we’ve had to deal with (the city) it’s been a nightmare. (By remodeling without the proper permits) we figured instead of a long, drawn-out hassle like last time, we’d have one huge hassle.



“They want us to have a sprinkler system, but the utilities aren’t even available to the building to make that happen. Are we supposed to pay for that too? You might as well close every building in Olympia without a sprinkler system. There are a lot of them,” Beug continues.



“I think (the city) is looking for a revitalization of downtown, and they’d rather not have the Manium where it is. I don’t think what we’re doing fits in with their long term plan. It’s totally within their power to create a real alternative here. In a perfect world, they’d set our occupancy a little lower, possibly significantly lower, and we could still have shows while we figure out what we’re going to do.”



But it’s not a perfect world, and that outcome seems highly unlikely. The City of Olympia seems poised to stick to its guns. In the end this probably means a safer Manium, but it also likely means a closed Manium for some time to come.



“Everyone seems to have a rationalization for why this particular business should not have to comply with current fire safety codes. It all comes down to who accepts liability,” says Olympia Mayor Mark Foutch.



“If the city staff, having found out about the un-permitted modifications, had taken no action, the city would have bought the liability. Follow the lawsuit trail in the Long Island fire. People and companies who never dreamed they might be hauled into court about this have been pulled in by the insurance companies trying to lay off liability onto anyone they can find.



“If Manium truly believes that staff has exceeded its authority in this case — for whatever reason — then it should consult an attorney. But if I were an attorney, I’d be really reluctant to take this case on contingency. I think it would be very hard to convince a judge or jury that modifying a high occupancy public space without a permit should not have provoked city enforcement action,” Foutch continues.



Whatever happens, hopefully the two sides figure out a way to reopen the Manium sooner rather than later. Unfortunately it seems far more likely that, whatever the motives, the City of Olympia will continue to make the Manium’s life difficult in the name of public safety, and the Manium will continue to feel singled out and slighted. Love it or hate it, the Manium is Olympia’s all-ages music scene. When the city closed the club, it also closed that scene. There’s no way Olympia is better for it.