Only memories on tap at Winthrop-area club

For more than 20 years, people who drove by Scandal's nightclub on Thursday nights could count on seeing a line of people out the door, waiting to go inside to dance, laugh and have a few drinks.

Thursdays were College Nights at the Cherry Road club, and it was one of the most popular, attracting between 300 and 350 students from nearby Winthrop University.

When students return in August, there will be no more lines. Owner Butch Bailey closed the club in April. This month, he gave the club a final inspection.

"It's had a good run," he said, looking around the empty bar.

Bailey was 23 when he opened the club in 1988. He had spent a lot of time as a disc jockey at The Money, another nightclub on Cherry Road. He'd always loved music, and when he had the opportunity to open his own club, he took it.

He picked the location near Winthrop, hoping to attract some of the college crowd.

"But I didn't want it to be pigeonholed as a college bar," he said. "I wanted it to be a good place to hang out and have a good time. And we were successful for many years."

Bailey bought more property next to the club, doubling the size of Scandal's in 1995. In 2003, he said the clientele had become comprised mostly of the college crowd.

In fact, he named Thursday College Nights as one of his fondest memories of the club, remembering fraternities hosting parties there.

He also remembered the satisfaction in having so many bands play at the club's stage, reminding him of his days as a DJ.

But, Bailey said he noticed the crowds were dwindling in 2005 and 2006, and while he isn't sure why, he has a few ideas.

"College kids' tastes change," he said. "There's more stuff in the dorm rooms."

With the closing of Scandal's, Bailey wondered if the city would be able to find more things for students to do at night.

"The city and college won't be able to create a college-town atmosphere because of the nightlife," he said. "There has to be something to appeal to students after dark."

However, he said he nightclubs have to reach out to more crowds, too.

"I don't think any business this close to campus can make the college the sole focus, or it won't survive," he said.

Closing Scandal's brings some "personal sadness" for Bailey. He met his wife of 17 years there.

But after all is said and done, he said, there's a "sense of relief" in not having to worry about paying the club's bills. Bailey also owns a sound, lighting and video company, which will become his sole focus now.

Since the announcement of the closing, he said Winthrop alumni have been telling him how much they'll miss Scandal's.

"I hope people will look back at their experiences and at this club in a positive way," he said. "From start to finish, it was, to me, a vision of what a club should be."

This story was originally published July 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Only memories on tap at Winthrop-area club."