Ziegfelds/Secrets may reopen June 13, 2008, in DC

[baltimore observer]

LOCAL | washingtonblade.com

 

Ziegfeld’s/Secrets cleared for license in new location

 

 

By LOU CHIBBARO JR

May. 16, 2008

 

Ziegfeld’s/Secrets, a popular gay nightclub known for its drag shows and male strippers, was expected to receive approval from the city this week to reopen in a new location in a warehouse district in Southwest D.C.

 

The reopening was set to take place more than two years after construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium uprooted it from its home of 30 years in a gay entertainment zone on O Street, S.E., which the stadium wiped out.

 

Cynthia Sims, a spokesperson for the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, said Ziegfeld’s/Secrets appeared set to receive clearance for the transfer of its liquor license to 1824 Half St., S.W., after no individuals or organizations surfaced to protest the license by an April 28 deadline. She said a hearing set by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for May 14 to assess potential opposition was cancelled when no protests were filed by the deadline.

 

Sims noted that Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D, which has jurisdiction over the area, voted to support the license transfer after Ziegfeld’s/Secrets reached a voluntary agreement with the ANC on issues related to the club’s operations. The terms of the agreement could not be obtained by press time. Simms said that although she expected the board to formally approve the liquor license transfer this week, Ziegfeld’s/Secrets must still receive clearance from other city agencies for routine regulatory requirements, such as a building permit and certificate of occupancy.

 

The club’s owner, Alan Carroll, said he had hoped to reopen sometime between Memorial Day and Gay Pride weekend, which takes place June 13-15. Ziegfeld’s/Secrets is the only one of at least eight gay entertainment clubs displaced by the stadium to be set to reopen

 

 

 

 

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© 2008 The Washington Blade | A Window Media Publication

 

 

[baltimore observer]

update:: Ziegfelds/Secrets may reopen June 13, 2008, in DC

 

Spring Surprise

Ziegfeld's/Secrets clears big relocation hurdle

by Will O'Bryan

Published on May 22, 2008

As baseball season enters full swing, the new Washington Nationals stadium will mark its official two-month anniversary May 30. Meanwhile, it seems those Southeast D.C. gay-adult establishments displaced by the city's eminent domain claim that allowed for the new stadium, have long since died.

 

Booted out of the Navy Yard neighborhood ahead of the May 2006 groundbreaking, clubs with nude-male dancers, purveyors of pornography, or just venues made famous for drag shows, have been in limbo. Some have attempted to re-open, but to date, none have succeeded, thanks in large part to cumbersome licensing issues and not-in-my-backyard arguments by affected residents.

 

 

The new Ziegfeld's club location

But spring's heralding of rebirth and renewal is gracing one of those former establishments: Ziegfeld's/Secrets, famous for female illusionists on one stage, such as Ella Fitzgerald, and men dancing in nothing but socks on another. Last week, efforts to reopen the club passed a threshold.

 

Had anyone protested the club's attempt to move to 1824 Half St. SW, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board would have last week heard those arguments. But the protest period ended April 28 and no protests were filed. Whatever the ABC Board dealt with last week, it did not include Ziegfeld's/Secrets. And while no one has filed a protest against the proposed transfer, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6D, in which both the former club and new location sit, has signed a voluntary agreement with the club's owner, Allen Carroll.

 

Generally, so-called ''voluntary agreements'' are instruments employed by ANCs to secure certain concessions from venues within their jurisdiction, outside of standing laws or regulations. The ABC Board is required to give ''great weight'' to an ANC's recommendations, making a voluntary agreement -- or lack thereof -- a critical element in ABC Board decisions.

 

ANC 6D also submitted a May 7 letter in support of Carroll's efforts to the board, according to a spokesperson at the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), of which the ABC Board is a part.

 

While the ABC Board has not yet cleared the voluntary agreement, which should be forthcoming in light of the absence of protests, ABRA did release the May 7 letter, signed by ANC 6D Chair Roger Moffatt.

 

''The club's owner, Allen Carroll, in the past has been a good neighbor and good citizen,'' Moffatt writes, in part.

 

Moffatt did not return requests for comment by deadline, and Carroll declined to share a copy of the voluntary agreement. Carroll did confirm, however, that ANC 6D has been very supportive of his relocation.

 

''They worked with me very well,'' Carroll says. ''It took a couple of weeks, but they were very good with me.''

 

Carroll says that one point of the voluntary agreement is that a breathalyzer will be available for patrons to check their blood-alcohol levels.

 

Though clearing the transfer of his liquor license is a huge hurdle cleared, the reopening of Ziegfeld's/Secrets must also clear lesser hurdles from the city's Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs and Office of Tax and Revenue. Regardless, Carroll seems very hopeful that the club will open in about a month.

 

''I was pushing for [Capital] Pride, but I don't want to rush,'' he says of the opening date for the new venue, formerly home to Lime nightclub. ''It will definitely be before the Fourth of July. The reason I don't want to rush is they're painting it and everything and I want to get it as nice as I can get it.''

 

Metro Weekly staff writer Yusef Najafi contributed to this story.

 

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[tealady]

RE: update:: Ziegfelds/Secrets may reopen June 13, 2008, in DC

 

i heard this also, that the club will open in june. i can't wait to enjoy DC again

 

T

[baltimore observer]

RE: update:: Ziegfelds/Secrets may reopen June 13, 2008, in DC

 

FYI, there was no mention of this in either the Metro Weekly or the Washington Blade last weekend.

 

And nothing new on the Secrets website: http://www.secretsdc.com/

[baltimore observer]

RE: update:: Ziegfelds/Secrets may reopen June 13, 2008, in DC

 

No news this weekend in either the Metro Weekly or the Washington Blade; however, I hear that it is now listed in the clubs directory at Metro Weekly:

 

http://www.metroweekly.com/nightlife/directory/?vk=40

[baltimore observer]

RE: update:: Ziegfelds/Secrets may reopen Labor Day 2008

 

Latest rumor: shooting for Labor Day weekend to reopen.

 

Another rumor: the outside of the club's proposed new location was recently painted.

[Karl-G]

Ziegfelds/Secrets May Reopen

 

Baltimore Observer:

 

Thank you for these reports. It will be very good news when the reopening finally takes place, and it is helpful and nice to get these periodic reports about current conditions and hopes. Your contributions are appreciated.