Students looking to change up their nightlife options may not need to go farther than the mall.

Destiny USA, the ongoing expansion of the Carousel Center, will house a Florida-based nightclub on its third floor, said Sara Wallace, Destiny USA executive. A date for the opening has not been announced yet, but the nightclub will open alongside the celebration for rebranding Carousel Center to Destiny USA, Wallace said in an email.

AJA, pronounced ‘Asia,’ targets the ‘young at heart’ and local college students, Wallace said. The nightclub will be a place for socializing during the day or night, she said.

‘With the third densest student population in the U.S., students are a huge part of our market,’ Wallace said.

A few other nightclubs are located in the Syracuse area, including Turning Stone Resort and Casino’s Lava, which is situated farther from the Syracuse University campus than the mall. Wallace said the Destiny USA team does not expect competition from Lava.

‘Our motive is to enhance what this area offers and provide another unique destination at Destiny USA for people to go to,’ Wallace said.

Officials from Turning Stone Resort and Casino’s Lava could not be reached for comment.

AJA’s third-floor neighbors will include Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill and Revolutions, a bowling alley, Wallace said.

The nightclub will feature a modern, sleek layout similar to AJA’s only additional location in Tampa, Wallace said. Its location on the third floor will benefit from the roof’s refracting technology to retain heat and create a year-round feeling of perfect weather, and a natural atmosphere will complement the glass ceiling, she said.

Only those aged 21 and older will be allowed to enter AJA after a certain time of night, Wallace said.

Students are able to take the bus to the mall for free on Fridays and Saturdays, but limited hours of transportation and the effect of the mall expansion will be addressed by members of the Student Association, said PJ Alampi, chair of the Student Life Committee.

Alampi said the mall extension’s opening, along with the nightclub, will spur student interest in traveling there. He said SA may be interested in extending transportation hours to include Sundays and Thursdays at a discounted or, if possible, free rate. Funding for additional hours could come from the student advancement fund, Alampi said.

A possible future issue of tweaking the bus schedule could occur during the later hours, if students don’t know the changed schedule and become stranded, Alampi said. But if the hours are reset, Alampi said students would be made aware.

Alampi said he will bring up the topic at Sunday’s Student Life Committee meeting and eventually at an SA meeting. He said the next step is reaching out to students and gauging their interest in extended bus service.

Said Alampi: ‘The best way that we can actually understand what students want is (by) talking with them.’

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Published on February 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm

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