Club Q is expected to reopen by fall 2023, one year after the LGBTQIA+ nightclub became the site of a mass shooting that claimed five lives in November 2022, according to a news release shared on social media Monday.

The interior of Club Q will be gutted by the end of April and design concepts are expected within the next four to six weeks from HB&A, a Colorado Springs-based, women-owned architecture and planning firm that has partnered with Club Q. The renovations will include a permanent standing memorial, according to the news release.

Club Q is also planning on implementing enhanced security measures and what they call a “hardened space.” Details will be shared in coming weeks about these measures, which they hope can be replicated at other queer spaces nationally.

Not only will the space be remodeled, but the staff as well. Club Q announced that they have hired two victims of the mass shooting and plan to add at least one new staff role in the next month, all to take on administrative duties.

“It was 20 years ago that I fought through a very different time in our country to ensure our community would have a safe space to gather and commune,” wrote Club Q founder and co-owner Matthew Haynes in a statement.

“It has been two decades now that we have kept the doors open as a place where everyone, regardless of gender identity or who they love, had somewhere to belong. To everyone who has asked me to reopen the club, I assure you we are working very hard to bring our home back. We look forward to being able to gather as one community again.”

Club Q also announced Monday it will begin to distribute funds from its GoFundMe and other officially sanctioned fundraisers starting Friday to former club employees and third-party entertainer contractors.

New survey to study Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ population and needs