THE TIME WAS 1982. It was early morning after a night of revelry in Lan Kwai Fong's first club, the famed Disco Disco, and Christian Rhomberg was sitting with friends on the steps outside the coffee bar Vini E Salumi. 'We were letting our fantasies go wild, dreaming how we could light up this dark back lane - Lan Kwai Fong,' he recalls.
The fantasy soon became reality. In December 1983 the Austrian diplomat Rhomberg and partners opened Club 97, with its exclusive members-only policy, named as a flip nod towards the date when the colony would revert to Chinese rule.
With the passing of the handover four years ago, the era has come and gone. It was an era that spanned 18 years and a venue that played host to celebrities and space cadets alike. Rhomberg, now the 97 Group's CEO, shuts Club 97's doors on September 3. Club 97, which opened shortly after the restaurant Post 97 (which will remain unchanged), embodied the partying for which the streets are known. It will go out in true style, with a 30-hour non-stop party featuring 12 DJs, tomorrow night.
One month and a $1.5 million facelift later, Club 97 (it will keep the name) will reopen as a lounge bar, on October 6. In the past six months, at least four other lounges have opened: Amazona in Wan Chai, The Ivory Lounge and Cafe in Central, Home One Wine and Cafe in Tsim Sha Tsui and Liquid in Elgin Street, joining supine stalwarts like Feather Boa in Staunton Street, SoHo, and Tango Martini in Wan Chai. It seems the couch potato's day has finally arrived and it's an indication perhaps, that the districts have come of age.
'I think we've all grown up,' says Jamie Higgins, the 97 Group's general manager, adding the decision was driven by the club's 800 active members. 'People are done with the party animal thing and there's now more of an air of sophistication. We're introducing the art of conversation to Lan Kwai Fong. It seems to be the natural progression.'
After the makeover, Club 97 will be open-fronted, lit by chandeliers and will no longer have a dancefloor. Higgins describes the new decor as 'a blend of industrial-meets-baroque-meets-Victorian-meets-modern chic. Whatever that may be - though it will certainly be elegant', he says.