Remember this? That time when a “Calypso-Caribbean” themed nightclub popped up in Invercargill but ended up becoming a home for gifted children.
Let’s relive this. I’ll take you back to the start.
It was December 1, 1999. Day one of the new alcohol laws in New Zealand after Parliament earlier in the year had voted 59 votes to 55 to drop the drinking age from 20 to 18.
I just happened to be 18 at that time. The historic day, that marked that age change, fell on a Wednesday. It wasn’t going to stop me and many other newly minted legal drinkers from marking the occasion into the late hours.
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My first legal drink was at Edgar’s house, aka the Northern Tavern. The second stop? A brand spanking new venue as part of Invercargill’s late-night entertainment scene.
Five days before the drinking age dropped from 18 to 20 the Invercargill Licensing Trust opened The Sugar Shack at 77 Don St.
A savvy move from ILT management in an attempt to try to capture the rookie drinking market at that time.
A “Calypso-Caribbean” themed offering was dreamt up by ILT staff. A bold move for a city known for its winter frosts rather than its resemblance to the Caribbean. (Although Southland’s summer of 2022/2023 is quickly changing reputations.)
As has been the case with the ILT at times, it felt like the ILT was trying to have a dollar each way with its newest established venue to maximise revenue.
It advertised The Sugar Shack as a cafe-bar for earlier in the evening, and a late-night entertainment venue later on.
"It isn't a nightclub, it's a bar with a real emphasis on entertainment and the party theme,” then ILT trust general manager Greg Mulvey said in August 1999 when announcing the “Calypso-Caribbean” themed venue.
They even chucked a couple of pokie machines in for those en route from the dance floor to the toilets to really mix up the revenue streams.
There’s nothing that says you’re living life more than landing free spins on the pokies at 3am with a double rum and coke in hand as Ricky Martin’s Livin' La Vida Loca plays at ridiculously loud levels.
Mulvey also went on to say the theme was about appealing to all age groups. He added it was also not meant as a replacement for the Lazers-Colosseum nightclub, which closed a year earlier in 1998.
Looking back, it only ever felt like a nightclub that catered for the young and those who previously ended up in suburban Waikiwi at Lazers late at night.
The fact The Sugar Shack pushed on for close to eight years suggests it probably was filed into the “success” basket. More on that to come.
In November 2006 Mulvey indicated The Sugar Shack’s time was coming to an end. It came after a debate at the Invercargill City Council about disorder at nearby public toilets.
Then mayor Tim Shadbolt (now Sir Tim Shadbolt) said he wanted The Sugar Shack shut down.
Mulvey indicated Shadbolt was going to get his wish revealing plans were already in for another venue to be housed in the old DEKA building on Dee St. That bar was Barluca, which eventually opened in August 2010.
It has since made way for The Langlands hotel.
It was 77 Don St’s next venture - after The Sugar Shack closed its doors - which adds to the intrigue of this story. When The Sugar Shack closed, the ILT went about repurposing the building for a much different venture.
The ILT funded the new ILT@Enrich school designed to assist gifted Invercargill children with their learning needs.
It was opened in 2009 in conjunction with 22 Invercargill primary schools, and to be fair has been one of the ILT’s more successful funding ventures.
It opened with a roll of 50 students attending over two days, with two teachers.
It was a dramatic transformation from its former life as Invercargill’s Calypso-Caribbean drinking hole.
The city’s young geniuses went about their advanced maths or English lessons in proximity to the once-famous Sugar Shack dance floor. A place that probably sparked some relationships in the early hours of the morning - and quite possibly ended some.
The wooden bar which once propped up the odd parent in its heyday then became littered with laptops.
(In 2022 ILT@Enrich moved to its new location the former Elmwood on Dee Street. It now has a roll of 200 students with a teaching team of four teachers and the Centre Manager, Peter Forde).
As far as the history of Invercargill nightclubs go The Sugar Shack’s close to eight-year tenure probably wasn’t a bad effort.
Many nightclub-type venues have come and gone in Invercargill during the past 20 years.
At the time The Sugar Shack was operating there will also the likes of Tillermans, Saints and Sinners, One Blue Dog, The Frog N Firkin, Players, and the Lone Star also serving the needs of those who believed good things do happen at 2am.
Just the Lone Star and Tillermans remain today.
Other late-night options, including the Barluca and The Kiln, have opened and closed since The Sugar Shack went to nightclub heaven.
The late-night nightclub scene in Invercargill now has as much impact on my life as the Royal Family. I have a passing interest, but it’s wise not to delve too much into the madness.
However, in saying that, I do understand we’ve got some youth in Invercargill who it does affect. Those at the stage in life who do want more than what the city is offering them at the moment.
The easy option would be to throw a verbal barb or two at the ILT and tell them to do better; given they are our biggest hospitality provider.
But it seems nightclubs don’t necessarily make brilliant business cases.
Alan Dennis was part of the ILT board for 20 years. Many of those years as its president. He’s seen the rise and then fall of certain nightclubs.
He opted not to seek re-election in October, but in the twilight of Dennis’ tenure, I talked to him about many things related to the ILT for an article published on Stuff and in The Southland Times. I felt obliged - on behalf of Invercargill’s youth - to ask about the limited nightclub options.
His response painted a tricky juggling act that sits between running a sustainable business and community good when it comes to hospitality.
“Nightclubs have struggled in Invercargill. People have poured a lot of money into them to try to make them profitable. There are not enough people to have nightclubs that are regularly profitable,” Dennis said.
“It does sound negative, but people preload, come along and drink a glass of water, enjoy the music and shoot through.”
“The bottom line is if it doesn’t wash its face then you are doing it as a charity. And if you are doing it as a charity then you don’t have money to give back to the community. We still have to be a business.”
“I would say to anyone, ‘have a go’. There is no reason why anyone can’t set up a nightclub or a bar [in Invercargill].”
His point was valid and made sense. Although as a city, if we want to retain our youth, or at least send them on their OEs proud of their hometown, do we need to find a way to make a late-night entertainment venue work?
Or would most in the city simply prefer to not have a venue of that type operating?
Does it attract more hassle than good?
That might be a question worth delving into more at a later date. For the moment let’s simply remember Invercargill’s Calypso-Caribbean past.
The Sugar Shack - 1999 to 2007.
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great read logan
Was a shame as the kids today have nowhere to celebrate life dance mingle. All our generation did was take everything off them.
I went clubbing a lot. Had tonnes of fun, rarely got into disputes. If anything the age should have gone up to 20