Final closing time turned sour at The Zephyr Club

Editor's note: On the last night of music at The Zephyr Club, now abandoned for 12 years, it was notoriously trashed by concertgoers. Club owner Otto Mileti has said the destruction cost him $45,000 in civil litigation with building owner David Bernolfo. This account was published Nov. 2, 2003. Find more here about how people remember the club today.

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The Zephyr Club didn't fade away quietly on Halloween night. Instead it went out with a bang — and a crash, smash and crunch. On Saturday, the orange walls were covered in graffiti. Part of the stage was demolished and gaping holes dotted the walls.

Broken baseball bats and beer bottles covered the floor. The bar was destroyed, as was the railing that once lined the club's upper level. The floor was sticky from spilled alcohol.

"It is a horrific sight," said David Bernolfo, co-owner of the building on the corner of West Temple and 300 East in Salt Lake City.

The Zephyr officially closed Friday with its last live music act. Bernolfo and his partner, Stephen Bamberger, did not renew the lease held by the private club's owner, Otto Mileti. Bernolfo and Bamberger plan to replace the club and adjacent businesses with a food market and a restaurant within the next three months, but that may be temporarily derailed by the damage.

A contractor whom Bernolfo had asked to change the locks found a group of people still breaking things at 7 a.m. and called, Bernolfo said. He said he arrived an hour later and called Mayor Rocky Anderson.

Anderson contacted police from his cell phone at 10:30 a.m. while surveying the club, which he described as "absolutely trashed."

"I can't believe after the great run the Zephyr's had and they go out like this," Anderson said. "I'm just sick about this."

Police Lt. Dana Orgill verified that an investigation is under way, but as of late Saturday no one had been arrested. An officer took a report and a police photographer documented the damage.

Bernolfo blames Mileti, who is upset at losing his lease.

But Mileti says Bernolfo is overreacting.

"He is just mad because the place is a mess, we ran out of time," Mileti said. "If anything we helped him. We dismantled a lot of it." He said he and 15 others stayed until 7 a.m. to remove equipment, not to damage the building.

Mileti asked Bernolfo for an extra day to have his cleaning crew come in and remove the bottles and cups that cover the club. Bernolfo refused.

"After almost 21 years you wouldn't think one day would matter," he said.

The relationship between Mileti and Bernolfo turned bad over a disagreement on the lease extension. Bernolfo expected Mileti to pay more for leasing the building and Mileti said he never received that request. Mileti said he later paid the extra amount.

The marquee reads "Zephyr Club Closed, Now Salt Lake's Premier Parking Lot" and includes an obscene insult apparently directed at Bernolfo.

"I never expected anything like this from the guy," Bernolfo said of Mileti. "I never expected anything like this because of the mayor's involvement."

Bernolfo says Anderson asked him to extend the lease for the Zephyr as well as Siegfried's Delicatessen, Shig's Barber Shop, Passey & Son Jewelry Inc. and Kennard Antiques so they could find other downtown locations.

Bernolfo and Bamberger gave their tenants another 60 days in the 92-year-old building, and gave the Zephyr an additional 30 days to let Mileti relocate. All of the businesses except the Zephyr have found another location.

Mileti plans to move the club to the United Electric building a block away, but is still looking for partners to help him renovate it.

Bernolfo walked his attorney through the building late Saturday before he hired an off-duty police officer to stand guard through the night.

Graffiti ranging from artistic to just crude included smiling pumpkins, the names of the last acts to play there — including Slightly Stoopid and The Wylde Bunch — and this message scrawled in a bathroom: "Thanks Zephyr, goodbye." It was dated Oct. 24.

A message spray-painted over the doorway read, "Thanks Otto, one more and we're outta here."

Mileti said he hired a graffiti artist on Thursday.

"That is not vandalism that is just art," he said.

mcanham@sltrib.com