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By: RYAN LEE
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The dance floor on which countless gay men and lesbians have partied around the
clock for almost three decades is being broken into one-foot squares and sold
for $20 each.
The remnants of Backstreet’s dance floor — along with everything
else that has filled the former 24-hour gay nightspot since it opened in 1975
— are being unloaded yard sale-style by club owners, who surrendered their
years-long legal fight against the city of Atlanta to remain open.
“We’re just going to close it up,” Backstreet owner Vicki
Vara said. “Once you get over the fact it’s not going to come back
the way it was, you just have to move on.”
Atlanta police closed Backstreet July 17 after a Midtown resident complained
that the club was operating without a business or dance hall license, something
the facility had been doing for months. But much of the club’s allure
was gone after more than two years of legal battles with city attorneys.
The nightclub’s slogan — “Always Open. Always Pouring”
— once symbolized the never-ending party that took place inside Backstreet,
but rang hollow when the city revoked Backstreet’s private club status
in January after a court battle following the city’s rewriting of its
alcohol ordinances.
The club operated as an alcohol-free dance hall from January to July as owners
attempted to secure a restaurant license from the city in a last-ditch effort
to remain open.
But that request was opposed by a group of Midtown residents and Atlanta City
Council member Debi Starnes, who told the License Review Board that Backstreet
was a “nightmare” that needed to be shut down.
The board denied Backstreet’s restaurant license application July 6.
Mayor Shirley Franklin had the option to reverse the decision within 90 days,
but sent Vara a letter stating the review board’s decision was final.
Vera received the letter on Sept. 25 during a sale of Backstreet items in its
parking lot facing Juniper Street.
As Vara prepares to sell Backstreet and the 47,000-square-foot lot on which
it sits, Vara said she wants to focus on the positive stories she hears from
gay patrons who found acceptance and pride inside the venue and not the years
of legal squabbles with the city.
“It makes you feel good when you hear people telling you that we did
provide a haven for people to have such a good time and be themselves,”
Vara said. “Anytime someone has got a good story about Backstreet, I’d
love to hear from them.”
Also located on the Backstreet lot is the Armory, a gay club owned by Vara,
and Loca Luna, a popular Latin eatery. The Armory will remain open until at
least January, Vara said.
Eight years remain on Loca Luna’s lease with Vara and the restaurant
is “taking a wait-and-see approach,” said Brian Fasthoff, a partner
at Loca Luna.
The parking lot sale of Backstreet items, everything from napkin rings to bar
equipment, began in mid-September and continues on weekends in October at 11
a.m. Proceeds from the sale will help pay the club’s bills, Vara said.
As one venerable Atlanta gay bar folds after ending a conflict with the city,
another — the Metro Video Bar — recently received an apology from
Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington.
The police chief, in a Sept. 22 meeting with Metro owner Don Hunnewell, said
the department ran afoul of its procedures when sanctioning the venue after
undercover officers cited the club for alleged drug sales.
The police department served Hunnewell with a “due cause” letter
in July instructing him to appear before the License Review Board and explain
why the Metro should be allowed to continue operating after the alleged drug
purchases in 2003.
Hunnewell said he was surprised at receiving the letter because Pennington
told a meeting of the gay Bar Owners Association in January 2003 that city police
would begin informing bar owners about alleged illegal activity prior to launching
enforcement action.
Pennington — who became Atlanta’s top cop in July 2002 —
restated the policy change when he spoke at the Atlanta Executive Network, a
gay business group, on Feb. 20, 2003.
“We don’t always have to go in and shut them down,” Pennington
said at the AEN meeting. “If we have a complaint, we are going to work ...
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