Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Kooky Clown-Mouth Entrance Of Historic Gay Disco Saved From Demolition
New condos will be built at the site of a nightclub that some call a historic landmark in the gay history of Los Angeles, but a deal has been made to protect its history.On Friday it was announced that developer AvalonBay Communities had struck a deal with the preservation group Hollywood Heritage to save many of the features of the Circus Disco and incorporate them into the condo complex going up at the site. Founded in 1974 by Gene La Pietra and Ermilio Lemos on Santa Monica Boulevard near North Las Palmas Avenue, Circus Disco was opened because the Pietra and Lemos were tired of being turned away from the white, gay nightclubs. "In other discos you felt like you had to be a certain way. Act a certain way. Dress a certain way," former clubgoer Danny Muñoz told the L.A. Times. "Not at Circus Disco."
Under the new deal, AvalonBay would save the club's distinctive clown-head entrance, its dance floor, neon lights, and even one of its disco balls and incorporate them into the design of the new buildings. AvalonBay senior vice president Mark Janda called it "a creative solution—a solution that will tell the story of Circus Disco to future generations." The disco ball, for example, will hang in an elevator lobby. In exchange, Hollywood Heritage would pull back from their efforts to save the site, and will eventually have an exhibit at the site commemorating Circus Disco.
Going up at the site of the club will be a mixed-up development that has 695 residential units and 25,000 square feet of retail space. The surrounding neighborhood is generally industrial.
On their website, the Los Angeles Conservancy previously listed the fate of Circus Disco as "urgent," and writes:
Support for LAist comes from
Circus Disco played an important role in the Latina/o LGBTQ community and in its history of political organizing and coalition building. In 1983, civil rights and labor leader César Chávez addressed roughly one hundred members of the Project Just Business gay and lesbian coalition at the bar, where he offered strategies for organizing boycotts and coalition fundraising.
"Both [Circus Disco and Mid-City's Catch One Disco] were founded in response to the discrimination gay men of color experienced at predominately white venues in West Hollywood," said a report from the Department of City Planning Office that surveyed historic LGBTQ sites across the city. Catch One closed last year, but new owner Mitch Edelso (of Los Globos) plans on reopening it this year under a new name.Over in West Hollywood, the fight continues to preserve the home of the gay nightclub Studio One, which faces demolition.
Former owner Gene La Pietra isn't particularly sad to see his old nightclub go. He sold the property in July, and told L.A. Weekly, "Take the sign off and the lights off and you have a warehouse built in 1973."
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist