While Orange County comes up with a permanent way to crack down on late-night entertainment, promoters at Area 51, 600 Maguire Blvd. in Orlando, have started an electronic-music showcase from midnight to 7 a.m. Saturday nights (technically Sunday mornings). Age 18 and up are welcome. No liquor is served, just bottled water, sodas. Area 51 is easy to find. Club owner Frank Locascio, 39, has erected a giant Area 51 sign and parked a van with a blinking yellow light out front. With the club's name taken from the rumored secret crash site of a UFO, I expected more of a government laboratory decor in the cavernous dance hall. Instead, it looks like marooned aliens modeled the place after a teen club on their own planet. The walls are airbrushed with moon scenes. And bug-eyed space creatures dangle from rafters. A private office in the corner looks like a flying saucer, complete with blinking lights. The sound system is top-notch. The bass in the place booms so loud you'll feel it in your lungs. Now if you've attended recent Orange County Commission meetings or listened to Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary talk about "rave clubs," this all sounds familiar. Area 51 fits the profile of the type of club Orange County is hammering. In fact, it's less than two miles from the controversial Venus & Mars Deluxe project at the corner of State Roads 50 and 436. But Area 51 is inside the Orlando city limits, meaning it's free to offer dancing until dawn. Area 51 could prove county leaders dead wrong or support every stereotype they hold about late-night dance clubs. The dance community and its detractors will be watching. "Nobody has cracked down on me because I believe it's the owner's responsibility to create an atmosphere, and I'm responsible for the atmosphere," LoCascio said. "My moral obligation tells me that I need to create good atmosphere, and that's exactly what I do." At opening night Saturday, promoter Nelson Bauza performed as a member of electronic band Hyper Drive and as DJ Nelson Flux, spinning music far different from the break beats you might hear elsewhere. He's into tribal and world beats and bands such as Dead Can Dance and plans to bring in similarly unique acts. …………On the whole, the place was a clean, safe environment. Volunteer Alfredo Martinez, a self-described ex-hippie, dyed his short hair red, white and blue and registered about 30 clubgoers to vote inside the club….
