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May 1—Dan Dumoulin II is gearing up for a new business venture in the form of a alive music venue and nightclub.
The building that used to house the recently closed Big Daddy's Show Club, located at 1503 N. Davis Road, is set to become an age restricted nightclub and live music venue and bar that plans on hosting both regional and national touring acts and DJs.
The inside of the building has been gutted, and a stage, renovated bar area and a VIP upper deck area has been added. The business' first show is scheduled for Saturday and will feature Rehab, the southern hip hop group. Shows would largely be held Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with the occasional weekday show.
Dumoulin received a favorable recommendation Thursday from the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Board regarding a renewal and transfer request of a liquor permit from Dan the Man LLC to Dumoulin's DLDII Investments LLC by a 2-1 vote.
Board members Daniel Vredenburg Jr. and Beth Harshamn were the "yes" votes, while Joe Martino voted "no." Martino cited "the lack of maintaining high reputation or moral conduct over the years" as reasoning for his "no" vote.
The request now heads to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission on Wednesday for its review.
The decision by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Board came after a little more than an hour meeting that included testimony from Dumoulin himself, his lawyer Mark Webb and the venue's hired head of security.
Dumoulin pitched the new business as one that's much-needed in Kokomo and would serve as an economic benefit to the city because people who would otherwise travel to Indianapolis or other major cities to see a concert would instead stay or travel to Kokomo.
According to the renewal and transfer application, the general manager of the business is Clint Hunter. According to Hunter's personal Facebook page, the name of the new business is Obsession Night Club.
At the forefront of Thursday's meeting was Big Daddy's liquor license violation in September.
According to testimony Thursday, the strip club over served a customer in March 2022 that led to a fatality.
The heavily intoxicated customer left Big Daddy's, then struck the Dollar General on North Washington Street just 0.2 miles south from the strip club. He fled from police in his vehicle and eventually crashed into two parked cars in the 300 block of East Mulberry Street. The driver, Brian "Scotty" Dodd, died of blunt force trauma to the chest sustained in the crash.