King thinks that real estate and apps are only part of the story behind bar closures. There’s still a lot of homophobia, a lot of ignorance, a lot of intolerance, and some places are very accepting and other places are not accepting at all.’ ‘It’s time for the younger generation to step in’ You still need that safe space to feel comfortable. Because as much as gay life has been accepted, it’s still very uncomfortable to go into a straight bar, or a straight environment and be intimate with your partner. It must take faith and courage to invest that sort of money in a gay club venture in 2016. Rising real estate and the popularity of hook-up apps have particularly hit the scenes in London, New York and San Francisco. And then there’s some dark corners, of course.įrom a business point of view, we hear a lot about LGBTI clubs and bars closing down.
You will have to wear some sort of leather to get in there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
‘Go down a corridor, past the unisex bathrooms, to enter the Code leather bar.
‘We took out walls, and then we actually went into the second and third floor, so now there will be a leather shop upstairs, and a whole night club called Nest. We’ve leveled all the floors to the same level, dug out the basement to put a proper basement in with a cement floor. What we’ve done is completely re-done it. ‘Originally it was a one-floor bar, with a couple of steps between the two sides. An official capacity has not yet been decided by city inspectors, but King says the team are looking at ‘around 1,000.’ What was formerly a one-floor, long and narrow venue has now been extended. The four are joint partners in the venture and are leasing the premises from the Parrish family.Ĭhuck King, general manager, spoke to GSN. This consists of two married gay couples: Charles ‘Chuck’ King and Greg King, and Robert and John Gasser. The Parrishes don’t intend to run Eagle Baltimore themselves but have instead taken on a management team.
However, in the meantime, they have instead purchased another license – buying the license from the now defunct Hippo, which closed late last year. The issue is still tied up with the courts.
Since this time, the Parrish family, along with the Eagle’s new management team, have been battling to get the license renewed. A license can be lost if it remains inactive for more than 180 days. However, because this redevelopment took so long, the club fell foul of the city’s strict liquor license laws. They quickly realized that the building was in need of extensive repair and redevelopment. The venue was eventually bought by developers Charles and Ian Parrish. The venue first opened in 1991 but closed in 2012 following the death of its previous owner, Richard Richardson. The Baltimore Eagle is set to reopen its doors: hopefully before New Year’s Eve if it passes city inspections.