Update: Red Cap Garage and Aura Sold, Red Cap Releases Statement
UPDATE (8/1/2012)
Red Cap released a statement on Facebook late Tuesday night confirming the sale of Red Cap Garage and the gay bar’s pending closure on Aug. 18. Sources tell PQ that Aura nightclub has also been sold. Other properties held by Red Cap’s ownership are expected to remain open, though Boxxes’ dance floor has been closed to accommodate a remodel of the Fish Grotto.
According to Red Cap Garage on Facebook:
Well, the rumors are true. After 25 fantastic years with the best customers and staff Red Cap Garage will be closing on August 18th. So, get ready – there will be a massive blow-out party on the 18th! We are working on the details right now and will be posting the event shortly. We hope that all our friends will be able to make it down in the next few weeks to say goodbye to us! While Red Cap is closing, Boxxes, Fish Grotto, and Fez will still be open. Fish Grotto is being remodeled and there will be changes coming soon for both Fez and Boxxes.
PQ has yet to receive on the record details regarding the closure of Red Cap and Aura, but has spoken to multiple individuals with first-hand knowledge of the sale and will provide updates as they become available.
ORIGINAL POST (7/30/2012)
By Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly
Chalk one more up in the Sad News Department ™: according to multiple reliable sources familiar with the situation (who spoke on the condition of anonymity), it seems Red Cap Garage has been sold and will be closing its doors after Saturday, Aug. 18. A Stark Street staple for much of our modern gay history, the venue has recently hosted Peep Show, Queerlandia, Portland Drag Race, Bearracuda–along with queer legends like Lady Bunny, Sherry Vine, Joey Arias, and a number of past and present Drag Race participants. In its heyday, it–in its many incarnations–was the place to be any given night, and plenty of people have made valiant attempts at creating a new round of glory days. No details just yet on why the sale was made, but we’ll be looking into it and following up as new details emerge. (For the record, Boxxes will remain open for business.)
Whatever one might think about the venue or Stark Street in general, Red Cap has hosted many a memorable event and evening, and count this writer among those who’ll always remember it quite fondly. I’m more than a little sad to see it go.
More to come.
In the interim, why don’t you share your favorite Red Cap memory with a comment below.
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10 comments on “Update: Red Cap Garage and Aura Sold, Red Cap Releases Statement”
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I am in shock. I have so many amazing memories at Red Cap. I am truly speechless…
I am sorry to hear that Red Cap is closing. I remember dancing there until the wee hours to some great music!
Thank you for hosting a PQ Press Party at your fun establishment.
While I too have had many fond memories in the waning, argentine days of glory a few years back, once they opened that stupid hotel across the way and made it impossible to go outside past midnight, this place was doomed for me. There was no longer any way to enjoy a nice breath of fresh air and people watch outside. Silverado leaving didn’t help, either. Sad though it is, anyone that didn’t see this coming didn’t even attempt to go here recently. My friends and I knew it was doomed when we showed up on a Saturday night, only to discover it filled with exurb straight girls giggling amongst themselves and mumbling, “OMG we’re in a gay bar! OMG, look, I think he’s gay!” If the writing wasn’t on the wall then, I don’t really know what else would have done.
I so remember the bginning and back when It bacame the “BRIGG” wanting to become the home of the Leather commnuity back in the 80′s. Farewell…
This is where I met my current partner of 17years and many many friends. So many memories from there. It’s very sad to see this piece of history going away not only to the gay community but to Portland.
I can’t believe this piece of crap lasted as long as it did.
Portland needs a modern gay dance club and a true gay district. It’s all very sad.
I so agree.
First the ORIGINAL Eagle PDX, then Silverado, now Red Cap (p.s. Thanks Rhea for the reminder of “The BRIGG”!!). Not to mention the Dirty Duck in NW, that was a tragic loss. And the ladies lost their bar, the E-Room as well (also, really Portland, only one lezzie bar that is now gone?) The once vibrant gay community here is sadly fragmented. It goes to show that Portland is not a real metropolitan city that it pretends to be. If it were, there would be a solid, established gay district like the Castro in SF or the Village in New York. Even cities like Houston, Texas (baby) has a long established gay district (Montrose). I miss the days of “Vasoline Alley” when we could wander up and down Stark Street and know that it wasn’t filled with hipsters, bro-dudes, and the bridge and tunnel crowd. This is just more evidence that I need to get the hell out of this po-dunk town.
This is one of the most foolish things I have ever read. Portland is a TINY city compared to places like San Francisco or Houston. There is no need and no real viability for a gay “district” you are describing. Portland is incredibly accepting and catering to the gay community. There are multiple gay parties in non-gay bars any given night of the week, and the number of successful gay bars in the city are certainly proportionate to the gay community.
Think before you comment.