The Chelsea Nightclub on North Florida Avenue is more secure now than ever, according to owner Nikki Turnon. The club, formerly the Azalea Lounge, had encountered numerous loiterers and a case of vandalism in its parking lot earlier this year.
That prompted Turnon to increase security and install some outdoor cameras.
“We’ve cleaned this place up, both inside and out,” Turnon said. “Six weeks into this business venture we noticed an increased street population outside.”
Turnon said she never had any major incidents with that population, except for when a vehicle was vandalized in the parking lot. That incident was published in Watermark’s “Overheard” section, which Turnon said caused some bad publicity.
“We wanted to get the nearby community involved to create a safe environment here, and I think we’ve done that,” Turnon said. “The street population is nearly non-existent and we have security personnel at our door, which also monitors the parking lot.”
Turnon said Chelsea has teamed with Tampa Police patrol officers, who routinely check the areas around the block, and the Tampa Homeless Coalition, which has offered to help transients living nearby.
“The patrol officers came by and introduced themselves to me and ensured me they would be in the area more often,” Turnon said. “And the homeless coalition has offered resources to these people that normally have nowhere to go. It’s a win-win.”
Turnon said that for nearly a month, the street population has disappeared and that her client base is growing to as large, if not larger than, it was before.
