[12/8/21]: Columbus, OH’s Alrosa Villa, the club where Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was shot and killed onstage, has been demolished just one day shy of the 17 year anniversary of his murder.

The once-thriving metal club played hosts to such artists as Slipknot, Korn, Quiet Riot, Ratt, and many more in its heydey. The Alrosa Villa’s memory was forever scarred, however, on the night of December 8th, 2004 when ex-Marine Nathan Gale hopped a fence and entered the club with a gun. In addition to fatally wounding Abbott, Gale shot and killed audience member Nathan Bray, club employee Erin Halk, and Jeff “Mayhem” Thompson, a member of the band’s security entourage, before he himself was fatally shot by Columbus police officer James Niggemeyer.

“We’ve seen stars born here, unfortunately we’ve had stars pass away here, but the one thing that can never be taken away from us is the amazing memories we’ve all created along the way with magical people inside of this magical place,” a post on the venue’s Facebook page read shortly after it was announced back in June that the club would be demolished. “I don’t personally like how the media always chose to portray the venue when talking about it because they always chose to drag it down with negativity because of the unfortunate passing of Dimebag Darrell… But that shouldn’t be what defines Alrosa as a music venue.”

The club continued to host concerts up until the pandemic. Those driving down Sinclair Road outside the Alrosa Villa could see a large rock painted with “RIP Dime” that has sat outside as a memorial to the late guitarist.

Watch a video of the Alrosa Villa’s demolition below. RIP Dime.

Alrosa Villa Demolished, December 7, 2021 Columbus Ohio RIP DIMEBAG DARRELL AND VINNIE PAUL

[Video: Heavy Metal Picker]

[UPDATE: 6/10/21]: Columbus, OH’s Alrosa Villa, the club where former Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was shot and killed onstage while performing with his band Damageplan in 2004, will be torn down. The city will use the newly vacant lot to build an affordable housing community.

The Columbus city council voted on Monday to use $2.175 million of the city’s Affordable Housing Bond Fund to build the apartments, providing 180 units. In 2019, the property was listed for $1.295 million, including the 10,000 square-foot building, two lots totaling 7.2 acres, the liquor license, bar, and equipment.

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During its heydey, Alrosa Villa served as a destination for rock and metal acts in Columbus, hosting such artists as David Byrne, Slipknot, Korn, Quiet Riot, Ratt, and many more.

That booming nightlife came to a tragic end on the night of December 8th, 2004, when ex-marine Nathan Gale hopped a fence and entered the club with a gun. In addition to Dimebag Darrell, Gale shot and killed audience member Nathan Bray, club employee Erin Halk, and Jeff “Mayhem” Thompson, a member of the band’s security entourage, before he himself was fatally shot by Columbus police officer James Niggemeyer.

Though the club still hosted concerts up until the pandemic, for the past 17 years the once-thriving club has stood as a grim reminder of that faithful day and existed as a hollow shell of its former self. A sizable rock with the words “RIP Dime” sits on the side of Sinclair Road outside the venue as a simple memorial to the late guitarist.

“It was a really hardcore, tragic event, and the guy [Nathan Gale] wanted to kill me, too,” Darrell’s bandmate Vinnie Paul told the Talk is Jericho podcast in 2014, four years before his death due to an enlarged heart and coronary artery disease, “And somehow or another, I was lucky enough to escape that, and I’m still here, and I will do everything and anything I can to carry on the legacy and the tradition that my brother always had.”

[H/T The Columbus Dispatch]