Opening nightly at Cabana Lounge in Vancouver now comes with rubber gloves and a front-row view of the chaos on the downtown Granville Street strip.

Before the lights flip, staff clear human feces from the club’s entrance and ask groups of people smoking drugs to move so patrons can line up down the block. Owner Dave Kershaw says it has become routine since 2020, when B.C. bought and converted three single-room occupancy hotels, including one above his nightclub, into social housing for nearly 300 people.

“What is happening is continual public disorder, open drug use, and mental health episodes that are frankly scary,” Kershaw said from inside the Roxy Cabaret.

Earlier this month, B.C. Housing began to close the single-room occupancy building, The Luugat above Aura Nightclub near Davie

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