BROAD STREET CLUB’S FUTURE IS UNKNOWN…

SHOULD ‘THE CLUB’ MOVE INTO OUR PLACE?

A small hand-written sign on the glass door at 1402 Broad Street in the so-called ‘Lo-Jo’ or ‘Lower Johnson’ district of the Olde Towne of Victoria, told a sad tale: the Alano Club for recovering alcoholics and addicts, operating since 1948, would close its doors at that location as of July 31, 2010.

It has happened, and the current status of the ‘The Club’ (as it is affectionately called by some of its patrons) is unknown.

While the City of Victoria flounders under the weight of a trendy theory called ‘harm reduction,’ sick alcoholics and addicts are left to their own devices on Pandora Avenue, in front of Our Place, in Pioneer Square and at Reeson Park.

Now is certainly not the time for the Alano Club to shut its doors.

On the contrary, the City of Victoria should help this venerable Victoria club find a more suitable location for its health-oriented activities, primarily to provide meeting rooms for 12 step groups, to prepare and serve recovering club patrons nutritious food at a reasonable cost, and to provide a decent sober social club atmosphere for fraternization after the formal meetings.

Without the Alano Club, many more of our most vulnerable citizens are now being deprived of a vital service in the public interest, and are thereby made more vulnerable.

I do not know the background story to the closure of the Alano Club, but I can say this: the Alano Club was key to the recovery of thousands of Victorians. 

Despite its grungy condition and funky decor, we will cherish the memory of many glorious hours spent at Victoria’s Alano Club, supporting others in their recovery, eating meals prepared and served by Donna W. and her fellow staff, and thereby staying clean and sober.

Maybe the Alano Club should move into Our Place?