What happened to the dance clubs of my youth?

In my university days, I would spend my weekends going to the clubbing district in downtown Toronto with my friends. We all would try to drown out our education with loud music and cheap alcohol. I thought it would be good to re-visit those reckless and carefree days and see what happened to the dance clubs of my youth.

The Barracuda (21 Scollard St.)
THEN:
This was the first club I ever went to. They had a car on the roof, and an indoor beach volleyball court. I remember Thompson sneaking 2 McDonald cheeseburgers past the front guards so he could eat them inside. I never could dance worth a dime, but I remember jumping around to House of Pain and a few Offspring songs. I also walked home with an "I AM" poster as a souvenir of the night.

NOW:
The Barracuda closed down in 1996. Located in prime Yorkville, somebody built a 7 storey condo in it's place.

Limelight Nightclub (250 Adelaide St. W)

THEN:
I remember this club was notorious for creating a "fake line-up" in front of the club early in the night. When we would finally be allowed inside, the club would be half-empty. The DJ would be playing the dreaded warm-up music before he would get into the good songs that were being saved for when the club got really busy around midnight. For this reason, this club was pretty boring for me.

NOW:
Limelight closed down in 2001, and became Afterlife. It's a club out with different music on different floors, each with a Dante-like theme: Underground, Limbo, Paradise, and Garden of Eden. Afterlife also closed down. The address is now populated by The London Tap House.

Velvet Underground (510 Queen St. W)

THEN:
I didn't go to this club often, but it was a favorite of Jon's. I remember him bopping to the music in a ridiculous Cat-in-the-Hat hat. They played a lot of rock and alternative music, which was what I was into back in the day.

NOW:
Velvet Underground is still alive and kicking. Good job!

Zoo Bar West (526 Queen St. W)

THEN:
Of all the clubs I've been to, I remember this one was a dive. It was pretty run down and there was not a lot of eye candy. (Sorry Zoo Bar people.) My only time there was spent considering if I should go over to nearby Velvet Underground and wait in another line up to get away from that place.

NOW:
The Zoo Bar closed down (thank god) and turned into Zen Lounge. Zen Lounge closed down and became The FunHaus. The FunHaus closed in 2008. I don't know what's there now. Does anybody have an update?

The Big Bop (651 Queen St. W)

THEN:
I've only been to this venue once, though I'm told it has a lot of history. I went to my first and only rave party here. I remember Dangard Ace dressed in a fedora hat and a Green Lantern T-shirt. Also a lot of trance music and people trying to do cool stuff with glow sticks (with varying results). It was pretty fun.

NOW:
The iconic venue has closed down to make way for a furniture store! Terrible.

Phoenix Concert Theatre (410 Sherborne St)

THEN:
This was easily my favorite dance club of all time. I remember Retro-Active Fridays (and I still have a 3rd anniversary T-shirt that was thrown to me from the stage over 10 years ago). My wife also went to the Phoenix a lot, but on Saturdays. I wonder what happened to RetroMan and his orange jumpsuit, or Zoe the bartender? My friends once did an all-Retro weekend, and we went to Phoenix on Friday from open to close.

NOW:
Long live the Phoenix! It's still alive and kicking, and will probably be around for many years to come. Before it was called the Phoenix, the Diamond Club was at this location... but the Diamond Club closed down due to a fire. The Phoenix rose from those ashes.

Joker (318 Richmond St. W)

THEN:
I liked Joker. At the time, I thought it was a little classier than my usual haunts... though not by much. I remember stocking up on sweets at the nearby Sugar Mountain or catching a late night movie at the nearby movie theatre (like watching SW:EP1 after a night of clubbing). We went to Joker on the Saturday of our all-Retro Weekend... again from open to close.

NOW:
Joker closed down, and apparently they knocked down the building and turned it into a parking lot. WTF?!

Whiskey Saigon (250 Richmond St. W)

THEN:
Going to Whiskey Saigon was both amazing and awful. It was a giant 3 story venue that was always busy. Unfortunately, that also meant long line ups, slow bar service, and not very much room on the dance room for you. The most ridiculous part was the second line-up they had inside the club to get onto the 3rd floor... and that's where I always wanted to be. It's also terrible for the people on the 2nd floor who are dancing on half the floor while the other half was filled with impatient patrons in a line-up. We went to Whiskey Saigon on the Sunday of our all-Retro Weekend from open to close.

NOW:
Whiskey Saigon was closed down when it lost it's liquor license. It was replaced by Joe which apparently featured a 50 cent beer night... but it has also closed down. The building is now an office building for CHUM Radio.

So that's my follow-up on the dance clubs of my youth. Do you have a favorite Toronto dance club that's been turned into a condo, a parking lot, or an office building? Let me know.