The struggle to keep alive one of oldest gay bars in California is a saga as endless as a karaoke night at Hamburger Mary's. Part of the beach-adjacent Coast Inn, Laguna Beach's Boom Boom Room was once a popular gathering spot that attracted party people and intellectuals starting in the late '20s. It closed a few years back and Coast Inn owner Steven Udvar-Hazy wants to remodel the place into a fancy hotel, while locals and politicians hope to resurrect a version of the Boom. Today, the city council is looking into an appeal of their approval of the hotel makeover, which would create a 10-suite boutique hotel and turn the Boom space into a different retail establishment.
The Laguna Beach Independent quotes project architect Morris Skendarian as saying. “The client (Udvar-Hazy) has no interest in a restaurant or bar of any size, especially? primarily as a gathering place for the gay community.” He specified that noise and cost were the primary concerns. Those loud expensive gays! Udvar-Hazy has agreed to include an “interpretive center” (a what?) about the building’s gay history. This does not placate Councilwoman Verna Rollinger who claims, “It was the first bar in town." Seeing the Boom gone forever “will cause a significant impact to visitors and residents.” Image via insidesocal
· Appeal Filed to Raise Laguna's Boom [Laguna Beach Independent]
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