Neighbours worry about music and violence near Club Seventy-Seven downtown

Carol Priamo lives across from Club Seventy-Seven, and she can describe the music that thumps from the club in vivid detail.

It was a constant thumping and banging, kind of a din of noise.- Carol Priamo

It's the sort of loud that triggers other senses. It'sformless andunintelligible, and itthrobs for hours like a migraine. Priamo hassleptin the bathroomjust to get away from it. Some nights, even that's not enough. She moves out to staywith her mom.

Priamo says when she and partner Chris Motherwell moved into Film Work Lofts six years ago, the developer told them the club would be gone in a year. Butshe had no idea itwould be this bad.

"It was a constant thumping and banging, kind of a din of noise," said Priamo whosecarhas been vandalized three times. "It really did affect you viscerally, physically.In my stomach, I felt nauseous."

Priamo was among the roughly 60 people who gathered at a community meetingTuesdaynight to discuss Club Seventy-Seven and acity plan to turn the area into a park.The workis scheduled for 2021, but residents at 80 King William St. don't want to wait.

They say they've had issues with the club for years. They worry about the violence they see around it. On May 13, Vince Lofaro,a door man at the clubwas shot and killed.

Vincewas the best father anyone could ask for, and he was my best friend.- Jackie Attard

Word spread through the lofts that there were seven stray bullets involved in that shooting, said Roz Mugford, whose husband Dale is president of the Film WorkLofts board. Ever since, she'sfelt a chill. What if herson had been outside?

Under the John/Rebecca plan, the city willbuild a new park between Rebecca and King William streets, and John and Catharine. Right now, there aresurface parking lots, a shawarma place and the club.

• Area around Club 77 too violent, so speed up plan to turn it into a park: residents

Property acquisition talks have already started, said Jason Farr, Ward 2 councillor. The city was due to start workin 2013, but did the Gore Park plan first. John/Rebecca is scheduled for 2021-22.

The Film Work board has gathered about 400 names on a petition urging faster progress. The Beasley Neighbourhood Association wants the city to expropriate if necessary.

We're paying attention, no question.- Insp. Glenn Bullock

Jackie Attard, mother of Lofaro's eight-year-old son Nathaniel, spoke on Tuesday. She wondered how someone could shootLofaro less than two blocks from Hamilton Police's headquarters.

"Vince was the best father anyone could ask for, and he was my best friend," she said.

The club owner isn't talking.He wouldn't talk to CBC Hamilton last week except to say that "if they want me to move, I'll move, but they have to pay me for it."The club's manager was at the meetingTuesday, but remained anonymous in the crowd.

The club often hires special paid duty officers, similar to bars in Hess Village,Insp. Glenn Bullocksaid.

This is an extraordinary circumstance.- Coun. Jason Farr

And more generally, "we're paying attention, no question."

Farr plans to bring the issue toa future city council committee meeting.Work is ongoing at Goreand McLaren Parks, and planned for Beasley Park.

Despite the multiple ongoing Ward 2 park projects, Farr believes his fellow councillors will listen.

"This is an extraordinary circumstance," he said.

Priamo, meanwhile, has moved to a unit at the back of the building. The music is still loud, she said, but "it's bearable."