Party Pooper

"The corporation [HS&H] was created so we could obtain a liquor license," he testified. Then he explained his motive: "Because the other corporation had — how do I say it? Because we had expended all our attempts to get this appealed or resolved in the courtroom ... and I knew it couldn't survive at 1:30."

O'Malley found him in contempt and ordered the club to close for 20 consecutive days of operation — that's seven weeks on the party calendar, because the club was open only Thursday through Saturday — and imposed a midnight closing time. It was the equivalent of a death sentence for a bar with a reputation for being the night's last stop.

Now the hulking building is for sale. Other potential nightclub owners might understandably view the location warily; speculation among business owners is that it will likely be converted into office space or high-priced condos.

The long-running good times at 3954 Central are most likely over.

Someone, however, may have had one last blast.

In June, Holloway reported a break-in at the building. Someone had pried a deadbolt from a door on the building's north side, forcing a two-by-four from the wall and looting $76,000 worth of equipment — computers, sound mixers, turntables, lighting equipment, video projectors, CD and DVD players and karaoke machines, stacks of amps and towers of speakers.

Whoever got away with the goods could throw a hell of a party.