Remains of burned DV8 razed

In the late '80s through the mid- to late '90s, it was the top place in the state to see live alternative music.

Club DV8, 115 S. West Temple, opened in 1989 and at first was just a watering hole with a dance floor. That changed in 1991 when Karen Springer purchased the club. She started booking live concerts, and DV8 quickly became one of the hottest venues in Salt Lake City.

"I can't even think of all the different bands we had," she said Thursday while trying to remember some of the top performances. "Pearl Jam, Primus, the Cranberries, No Doubt ... Blind Melon ... Social Distortion, 311, Bo Diddley, Cheap Trick, Live, Modern English ... Barenaked Ladies."

"There was so much stuff that went through there," said Jason Farrell, a former DV8 concert promoter.

By the end of Thursday, however, all that was left of the popular club were memories. Demolition crews knocked down the unsafe building, less than 24 hours after a massive four-alarm fire roared through the structure.

Salt Lake building officials Thursday determined the club was structurally unsafe and needed to be demolished immediately, said Salt Lake Deputy Fire Chief Dan Andrus.

"That building is just brittle and ready to collapse," he said.

Because of that, even fire investigators were not allowed to go inside the structure.

"It is likely we'll never determine a cause, unless a reliable witness steps forward," Andrus said.

Fire officials, however, are looking for a person who is believed to have been inside the vacant building Wednesday night. Investigators "found evidence that a person had been in the area of the club prior to the start of the fire," according to a statement released by the fire department Thursday night.

Officials said they could not be specific but urged anyone with information to contact the arson hotline at 877-572-7766.

"This is not a conclusion that the fire was caused by arson," according to the statement.

The fire began about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday and involved nearly 70 firefighters from Salt Lake City and the Unified Fire Authority.

DV8 was one of the buildings that comprised Arrow Press Square. Adjacent buildings in the old complex were vacant. The other L-shaped building, Arrowhead Press, wrapped around DV8 on two sides. The rear of the Arrow Press building was home to the old Dead Goat Saloon.