The North Warehouse on Dec. 16, 2023. (Michael Raines)
Some things never change. WW ended 2022 by reporting on the retail sale of magic mushrooms on West Burnside Street. That wasn’t legal; police raided Shroom House. WW ended 2023 by asking Portland Fire & Rescue why electronic dance music venue The North Warehouse didn’t have sprinklers. That’s against city code; the fire marshal shut the club down. Warehouse owner Scott McElroy challenged the accuracy of WW’s reporting, and the fire bureau responded by noting the club was hosting crowds of 950 people—nine times larger than capacity. So that’s 950 new friends we made for 2024. Here’s what our readers had to say: Outbound Logistics
_imposter_syndrome, via Reddit: “As someone who lost four friends in the Oakland Ghost Ship fire, and who’s been to The North Warehouse a few times…about fucking time they shut this place down.
“Put in sprinklers. No one cares about the ‘tons’ of revenue McElroy thinks he’s bringing to the city if it’s going to cost lives. Stop being a greedy asshole and invest in the safety protocols that exist for a reason.”
Marzcorpio, via email: “The only saving grace left in Portland are its clubs and live music. Reporters like you ruin the show scenes by calling out clubs and getting enforcement on ridiculous rules. Thanks for contributing to the hate of Portland and the fighting between politicians and the people.”
gallen408, via wweek.com: “Back in the ‘90s and ‘00s, we used to have underground EDM clubs without the local paper feeling entitled to report on them for the clicks.”
Mid County, via wweek.com: “The building was constructed to be essentially storage. Not as a venue for hundreds upon hundreds of drunk, high and panicked, desperately trying to get out when the only thing they can see are encroaching flames in the pitch black.
“Can it ever be a legal rave venue? Yes, but only with extensive modification and compliance with existing fire safety regulations. Two things the owner clearly has no interest in.”
Sophlady, via wweek.com: “The proprietor is acting as if this a personal attack on him. But the fire code applies to any building hosting the kind of events he does. Yes, it used to be a warehouse. However, now it is a dance club. What next? Will someone claim The Laundry gathering spot downtown is where folks come to do their wash?”
coltfitsky, via Reddit: “This is a bummer, but also it’s pretty irresponsible for the owner to not put in sprinklers at this point. North Warehouse isn’t an underground techno venue—it’s a proper business and should be held to those standards. I love an underground venue, but they’re often a lot smaller and more manageable anyway.
“My question is, what now? Is it fully shut down? Do we get refunds on tickets we’ve purchased for NYE?”
FINALLY FALLING IN LOVE WITH PORTLAND
Funny thing is that for me, 2023 was the year that, after 15 years here, I finally fell in love with Portland [”Parting Words,” WW, Dec. 20]. I finally have a ton of friends after enduring the coldness of Portlanders for so many years, and that made all the other great things about Portland—walkable neighborhoods, terrific food at reasonable prices when compared to other great foodie cities, the ability to zip all over town on a bike, decent weather, terrific parks galore. For nearly 30 years, Portland was ranked the best city in the country, by a country mile. And suddenly we are to believe that Portland is a dump. What I think is that all of the things that made Portland a truly great city are still here. And that now that we have a more humble view of ourselves, people are kinder, less full of themselves. Perhaps a little less hubris, and hopefully a growing competence in addressing our challenges, will make Portland No. 1 again. In the meantime, I’m pretty happy with PDX.
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