COLUMBUS, Ohio — Years of moments are now memories.
“It was a good time,” Logan Malone said. “It was just a good time.”
Malone remembers Alrosa Villa for what it used to be.
“Being able to kind of disconnect after work, come here, listen to some good music and have a good time with your friends, that’s what it was about,” he said.
Malone stopped by the venue on Sinclair Road Tuesday, which was one day after Columbus City Council gave the go-ahead to tear it down.
“It means a lot to some of the people in Columbus, I think,” he said.
Malone is hopeful that certain items like the venue’s marquee, the signs and the memorial rock can be saved.
“Once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Malone said. “Especially something like this where obviously something very important happened.”
The venue, which opened in 1974, is most notably remembered for the December 2004 shooting that killed four people including guitarist Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott.
It’s been closed for the last several years. On Monday, the city council approved a 180-unit apartment complex to take its place, courtesy of a $2.175 million price tag paid for by the Affordable Housing Bond Fund.
“I don’t know if people want that rock in front of the new apartments,” he said. “But, I think something needs to be done for sure.”
In return for the city providing the funding, the city says Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and NRP Group, which owns the property and several other properties in Columbus, are making a commitment to the city to provide affordable housing for 30 years.
Malone agrees something needed to happen with the building but says the historic nature of what it represents should be celebrated.
“Because, like I said, once it’s gone it’s gone,” he said. “You can’t replicate it.”
When it comes to preserving items on the property, the city of Columbus tells 10TV it is up to the developer. Calls to the developer, MHP Sinclair Family Apartments, were not returned.
The city said it is unsure at the moment concerning a timeline for when Alrosa Villa might begin to be torn down.