Matthew Haynes has ideas for a new Club Q, and it doesn't involve changing the name or the location.
“It will be Club Q or Club Q2," said Haynes. “Whatever it is, we want to make sure Club Q comes back and there is still a safe space.”
Haynes said that he’s gotten thousands of messages from people who want to donate money. The first funds that funneled in went to the shooting victims and their families.
With a new GoFundMe site that has no administrative fee, he and co-owner Nic Grzecka want to ensure that club performers and staff who are now unemployed with little or no source income are taken care of. “It’s not about them getting rich and getting a new car. It’s about keeping them at the same level of income that they were before so that they’re able to grieve,” said Haynes.
The donation site is called "The Official Club Q Fundraiser: Employees, Performers, Memorial, Returning a Safe Space."
Haynes said he wants to make sure that his employees are in the right frame of mind when it’s time to come back.
It's too early to envision what a rebuilt Club Q look like, but Haynes is certain there will be ballistic-proof areas inside the building and a garden out front that would be a buffer for anyone who enters. There are reports that the Nov. 19 assailant drove up to the front door and ran in.
Haynes won’t say the name of the person who gunned down five people and wounded at least 17 more in minutes around midnight on Nov. 19. “He had a lot of ammo,” said Haynes, who knows because he has seen the surveillance video footage. “I don’t know short of having an army out front how you would stop an attack like this. People didn’t stand a chance.”
Haynes and Grzecka envision some of the GoFundMe dollars will also be used build a memorial to the victims. The first funerals are happening this week with public viewings Thursday and Friday afternoon in Colorado Springs for Raymond Green Vance.
Haynes said that there have been some phony accounts set up in the club's name.
Wednesday, Haynes walked past what has become a mountain of flowers, notes and candles and went inside looking for a very special letter. It was still in its heralded spot, pinned to a board in a now-silent and bullet-riddled Club Q. The letter was written by a customer years ago and personified what the space represented for the LGBTQ community for two decades. “The note ended with ‘I don’t know what I would have done and I don’t where I’d be if it wasn’t for Club Q.’
He took the letter off of the board and shared its message with victims’ families along with a message of condolence which arrived special delivery from the president and first lady, which he said meant a lot.
It's all part of the story of the club Haynes bought 20 years ago. He said if there's anything good which has come out of the most terrible night of his life, it's the parents he hears explaining to their children what it means to accept everyone, especially when they’re different.
"This man will not destroy that," Haynes said. “That’s why I’m not going to take a bulldozer to that building.”