By Sarah Mieras
GRAND RAPIDS – Anti-gay comments by one Kent County Commissioner have sparked a debate in Grand Rapids over one of West Michigan's most popular nightclubs.
Located in the heart of downtown, Diversions has been a stable focal point for the region's LGBT community for 11 years. From the club's beginning, owner Robb Wiersum has focused on making Diversions more than just a place to dance and drink. According to his records, the bar has raised more than $500,000 for area non-profit groups. As recently as December the annual Holiday Fest event raised $36,000 in one night for HIV/AIDS related charities.
Recent controversy over the club though isn't focusing on its generosity to the community.
Controversy embroiled the club in early March when Kent County purchased the building, which also houses the county probation offices, prosecutor's office, and various court offices. At the heart of discussions with the county, said Wiersum, were security concerns. Presently people entering the county's offices must go through metal detectors. Diversions, which has three entrances to the building, does not have any security measures in place.
Comments made last week about the club by one County Commissioner, Harold Voorhees, have carried the debate into an entirely new direction. In a March 25 story published in the Grand Rapids Press, Voorhees announced that he did not believe that the county should be the landlord for a gay club, and suggested the county break Diversions' current 10-year lease on the location, a move which would cost Kent County an estimated half a million dollars.
"Kent County is a public entity with 'financial deep pockets.' As an elected official I must work to reduce exposure to unhealthy activities that could put public funds at risk," Voorhees told BTL.
Those comments, said Wiersum, have turned his negotiations with the county into "a whole new ballgame."
"I won't move because we are gay," Wiersum told BTL.
Despite the comments made by Voorhees in opposition to the club, it doesn't appear that Diversions will be moving anytime soon.
According to County Administrator Daryl Delabbio, Voorhees' comments about Diversions represent "one County Commissioner's opinions, not the feelings of the county."
In fact, Delabbio believes this story and other stories about the rift between Diversions and its new landlord are overblown.
"They have a lease and we plan to honor it. There is really nothing to negotiate, or to discuss," said Delabbio.
Ironically the issues about security in the building aren't new. Wiersum noted that the county and the club have shared space for eight years, and that the county had to "sign off" on his lease.
Delabbio noted that the security issues, too, are a "non-issue."
"These security issues aren't even related to Diversions, but to the county offices themselves," said Delabbio.
As development in downtown Grand Rapids soars, Wiersum noted that he is not interested in relocating Diversions and renovating a new space and plans to work with the county to sort out concerns.
"When reasonable people come to a table to work things out, there is always a way," said Wiersum. "It is when things get personal though that things get out of whack."
The story for now seems to be that despite objections from one rouge County Commissioner over the city's most popular gay night club, the doors to Diversions will stay open on Fountain street and the county will continue to collect its rent.
"The bottom line is that we have been a good steward and advocate for the gay and lesbian community, and I don't see that changing," said Wiersum.
