Rave organizers evicted from warehouse
By BBC News – October 15th 2002
Copyright: BBC News
The organizers of a large-scale warehouse rave party learned Monday that they have been ousted from the building in which they held the all-night event on Saturday.
The all-night party, organized by Poopiehead Productions and Trounce Records, drew at least 500 ravers to Trounce’s three-story warehouse building at 422 N. 15th St. in the Menomonee Valley.
Gary Zeller, an organizer of the “Regroup” party, said a representative of Trounce’s landlord, Action Property Management, contacted Trounce officials Monday and told them that their month-to-month lease was being terminated and that they had 60 days to vacate the premises.
Zeller said the property management company did not cite specific lease violations and suggested only that the company did not want to “deal with what they felt might be a hassle involving police and city officials” over rave parties.
Zeller questioned the timing of the landlord’s eviction notice, saying Trounce’s lease contained a clause that said the company could not be ousted between November and March.
A telephone call to Action Property Management Monday afternoon went unanswered.
The last large-scale rave in Milwaukee, the “Halloween Grave Rave” in 1992, was raided by Milwaukee Police, and 900 people were arrested for a variety of drug possession and drug-use violations.
Police visited Saturday’s 9 p.m.-6 a.m. rave twice between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., but no partygoers were arrested.
