As Pride Month starts, demolition for Austin LGBTQ bars crawls closer on Fourth Street

Members of Austin's LGBTQ community rang in Pride Month with choked-back tears and prolonged uncertainty at City Hall.

The Historic Landmark Commission on Wednesday night indefinitely postponed a decision about the historic status of the sites housing three queer-centric nightclubs in the Warehouse District. A proposed demolition project at West Fourth and Colorado streets would displace those bars to make room for a mixed-use tower developed by Houston-based Hanover Co.

But the vote still appeared a likely harbinger of drastic changes over the coming years to the city's longtime center of LGBTQ life.

The parcels in question are home to Coconut Club, Neon Grotto and Oilcan Harry’s, which is the oldest operating LGBTQ bar in town. The properties date back almost a century and have had varied uses, from auto garages to restaurants to previous queer nightclubs.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2022/06/02/lgbtq-bars-fourth-street-austin-texas-tx-historic-zoning-demolition-oilcan-harrys-coconut-club/7460836001/

I worked one block away when I lived in Austin so I walked down that street most days to get lunch.