Despite original plans to remodel and reopen inside the Colorado Springs nightclub where a mass shooting killed five people on Nov. 19, 2022, Club Q now says it will relocate the LGBTQ+ venue about 4 miles south — in a new space, with a new vibe and with a new, but still familiar, name.

A news release emailed late Monday said plans are to locate “The Q” at 411 Lakewood Circle, inside The Satellite Hotel, an iconic mid-century landmark building and mixed-use development of hotel rooms, condos and commercial businesses off South Academy Boulevard.

Construction has already begun inside roughly 2,000 square feet of former storage space adjacent to The Orbit Lounge on the west side of the hotel’s ground floor. Hopes are to open before year’s end, said Michael Anderson, a Club Q survivor and vice president of the organizational team set up by club owner Matthew Haynes after the shooting.

Anderson said that while the new location will channel the spirit of the original, which for more than 20 years provided a safe space (with oft-pounding bass) for the queer community in the Springs, The Q at The Satellite won’t be the same kind of late-night experience as its predecessor.

“This is not a nightclub that’s open all night … and we are not necessarily going to have a permanent dance floor. This is a lounge, mellow,” Anderson said. “Take Club Q and cut it in half in terms of the excitement and the loudness.”

The new space, leased by Haynes — who also maintains Club Q offices on the building’s ground floor — will include a stage and host drag shows, karaoke, bingo and trivia, Anderson said.

“The bar is going to be run by the community for the community,” he said. “Any events the community is yearning for, we’ll be glad to host them in there.”

Club Q’s Monday announcement represented a surprise pivot from controversial plans aired earlier this year that proposed a major remodel and reopening of the original nightclub, at 3430 N. Academy Blvd., with heightened security protocols inside and out, as well as a $300,000 on-site memorial to the five people killed and 17 wounded in the mass shooting there.

Club Q said the recent decision not to reopen the club at the North Academy location came in response to feedback from survivors, victims’ families and the community over the past 11 months. Many, including survivor Ashtin Gamblin, have said they would not return to a place where they watched their friends die.

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“It seems abhorrent for somebody to want to open it up and have people dance where people were bleeding out,” said Gamblin, who was working the club’s front door that night, and was shot nine times.

Anderson said that his team has taken such responses to heart over the last 11 months.

“We have heard those that feel returning the building to the community this soon will hinder their healing process,” said Anderson. But “the voices are overwhelmingly strong, Club Q must return — when and where has been the main debate.”

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The original property has been shuttered since the attack last year. Anderson said that plans to locate a memorial there hit permitting snags earlier this year but now are back on track. The standing-stone memorial’s $300,000 fundraising goal has been met, he added.

“For now, Club Q will remain as it has for the last year,” Anderson said. “It hasn’t been remodeled or renovated at all at this point, and we have put a pause on all of that … to refine our focus on this new venue.

“Down the line we may have further discussions on what the future looks like,” he said, “but at this time we believe it’s in the best interests to leave that building as a sacred, solemn place for everyone to gather.”

Club Q recently announced plans for a remembrance ceremony marking the first anniversary of the mass shooting.

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A gathering is planned for noon on Nov. 19 outside the club, which has been closed since the massacre claimed the lives of Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump and Raymond Green Vance.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, who pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder, was sentenced in June to life in prison for the attack.