Late on a Saturday night, in a nightclub on the fringes of the Arts District, a few hundred music fans are dancing. Downtown hipsters, gay couples and techno scenesters all sway to jubilant electronic tracks or flirt on the outdoor smoking patio.

But when the clock strikes 2 a.m., the bar shuts down. A few grumbling patrons wonder where to go next. Contrail Storey, a jewelry designer who lives and works downtown, isn’t ready to head home yet. But he’s not crazy about the idea of tracking down an unpermitted (or possibly unsafe) warehouse party.

It would be much better, he says, if some L.A. bars could stay open later for “the people that want to stay out late but avoid having to go to some illicit after-hours venue.”

After last year’s fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland killed dozens of young music fans, people in nightlife — musicians, club owners, civic leaders and patrons — have been looking for ways to prevent a another such tragedy.

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