Escondido

Escondido’s popular teen-age club, After Hours, opened on time and without missing a beat this week, despite a city order to close it because of faulty electrical wiring and construction.

Dan McFarland, Escondido city building director, said he was lifting the closure order after an inspection Wednesday afternoon showed that club owners had removed illegal wiring and audience platforms that had been installed without city building permits or inspections.

The club, which operates in an East Valley Parkway shopping center, was ordered closed by the city Tuesday until permits were obtained and repairs made.

Stony Mitich, son of owner Charles Mitich and operator of After Hours, said a crew worked around the clock to tear out and replace the wiring and remove the platforms to conform with the city’s codes.

The club, which caters to teen-agers 16 and older, is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so business did not suffer from the closure order.

Mitich blamed a fired disc jockey for the club’s brush with the city’s enforcement team.

“When he left, he pulled out all the wiring to the amplifiers and stuff on the stage. He was trying to hurt us any way he could,” Mitich said.