PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION ---- A popular nightclub that drew thousands of sometimes-raucous revelers to the Pechanga Resort & Casino each weekend will be reopened later this summer, Pechanga officials say.

The 28,000-square-foot nightclub, Silk, was closed early last year due to, what tribal officials called, an "unacceptable number of alcohol-related incidents."

At the peak of its popularity, the 3 1/2-year old club, a unique attraction in Southwest County, was bringing in up to 2,000 people a night.

Robert Bledsoe, Pechanga's public relations manager, said the new club will retain the Silk name but the interior and the layout will be slightly different.

"We're working on the area and the music format for a new, more sophisticated experience," he said Friday.

As for how casino management will create that experience, Bledsoe said last week that those details have not yet been ironed out.

The old club was known for its huge dance floor, which could accommodate hundreds of patrons. Bledsoe said he couldn't promise that the dance floor would be the same size. He said consultants were in the process of determining the club's layout, which includes the location of the dance floor and seating.

Regarding security, Bledsoe said there will be a strict dress code but he didn't yet know what it would entail. In the old club, tennis shoes weren't allowed but jackets weren't required.

Temecula Police Chief Andre O'Harra said he has talked to Pechanga officials about the reopening of the nightclub and he said he's optimistic about the planned change in entertainment, which, he predicted, will attract a slightly more mature crowd.

"I am also pleased with Pechanga's efforts to upgrade their own security measures related to the club. Currently, I don't anticipate that the casino will need officers from my department to supplement their in-house security," he wrote in an e-mail to The Californian.

For much of the club's previous existence, four officers from the department were paid overtime to provide security on the nights the club was open.

While those officers kept serious incidents to a minimum, some of the longtime Pechanga gamblers complained about the presence of the club patrons in the table game areas, creating an uneasy mix of casino clientele.

Bledsoe said he was aware of those former issues and added the casino is taking into account that there is a certain crowd that comes out for a nightclub. The key, he said, will be making sure that the two groups coexist peacefully.

"The casino is primarily a gaming facility. We have to take our gaming patrons into consideration," he said.

Former Silk bartender Josh Ferguson, co-owner of ET's Lounge on Jefferson Avenue, echoing Bledsoe's analysis, said the core business at Pechanga is the casino and it was his experience that the club was viewed as a side project.

"The nightclub to them is another ride at Disneyland," he said.

During his tenure at the club, which spanned its 3 1/2-year existence, Ferguson said management tried a number of different things to get the right mix of people swinging through the doors.

As with a lot of business enterprises, some things worked and others didn't.

"It was a learning experience for everyone involved. It was pretty well run, but there were some mistakes made," he said, noting a decision to raise the cover fee as one of the mistakes.

Ferguson said the managers at the club have probably benefited from that trial and error and he expects the new club could be as popular or more popular than before, when it was attracting clubgoers from Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego.

"I wish them the best," he said. "I hope the club is successful: a good, upscale place for people to go."

Openings for positions at the club will be listed at www.pechangacareers.com, according to Pechanga's human resources department. The exact number of positions that will be filled hasn't been determined yet.