Pipeline Cafe to close next month

STAR-ADVERTISER / OCTOBER 2010

Pipeline Cafe will close in February after more than a decade of hosting concerts, parties, fundraisers and other events, the nightclub's owner confirmed today.

Greg Azus took over in 2008 and continued to promote a variety of events, putting extra emphasis on live music and stand-up comedy. He also expanded the Kakaako club's food menu and opened for lunch to serve office workers in surrounding neighborhoods.

In December, city fire inspectors cut the legal capacity of the Pohukaina Street venue from 951 people to 299 after finding several violations. At the time, Azus said fire sprinklers covering a 2003 expansion of the building were not connected to an adequate water supply. Pipeline Cafe also developed the expansion without a building permit.

"The time it would take to get that work done was estimated at six weeks," Azus said Thursday. "We could have stayed open; we just would have still had the minimum occupancy. But to pay the rent and get that (fix to the sprinklers) done at the same time would be (financially) impossible."

Pipeline will host a handful of events over the next 10 days before auctioning off what is left in the club on Feb. 5. Previously announced performances by comedian Lachlan Patterson on Wednesday, stand-up comic Jim Jefferies on Friday, and Hot Lava Entertainment's "Pro Jam '11" on Jan. 29 will go on as scheduled.

Azus would not comment on whether the club would reopen under new ownership.

For a detailed story and photos, see honolulupulse.com