Bathhouses Will they reopen or become a thing of the past? (thoughts?) (about this topic))

[JamesL100]

Many in the UK now have alcohol licences and sometimes DJs at weekends, with associated higher entry costs.
I'm happier with basic (but clean) facilities and a horny sober crowd rather than drunk clubbers.

[hntnhole]

10 hours ago, ejaculaTe said:

Eeeeeks...!!! I offer additional proof of the proposition that it's a small world: I grew up in Rockford, and in my college years, the bar that was catercorner from that ABS was my hangout. (I never went into that ABS; I wasn't much into ABS at that time. I can't remember the name of the bar, but I can picture the owner as sure as if he was standing in front of me.)

Well, well .... nice to have some survivors of the religious/cultural repression turn up on BZ !!!  The first gay bar was on the South side of State St, maybe the 4 hundred block, and the owner was Earl, a retired cop. The front door was never used - guys would park in the area behind the bar and use the back door.  I don't think I ever saw anyone come in or go out the front door.  I can't recall the name either though.  I even used to park over by First Lutheran and walk over !!!  Later, there was another abs that opened, also on State St, maybe the 2 or 3 hundred block from the river, but I never went to either of them either.  That one was frequented by the pastor of yet another Lutheran church, where he was often on his knees at the gh's, "praying" for (presumably) loads down his throat.  

Just when I was going away to school another bar opened up somewhere in the area, but I never went there.  Haven't been back there for years, and have zero plans to do it either. 

There's another guy on BZ from Rockford - it's great to know that at least a handful of us managed to flush the religio/cultural garbage we were raised on, and managed to become the men we were born to be !!! 

Thanks (former) neighbor !!!

[PigBoyDallas]

Dallas was down to one gay bathhouse before the pandemic (Club Dallas) and it survived the pandemic. It's pretty much back to business as usual and busy on the weekends when I've gone. The two non-gay bathhouses I go to (King Spa and Spa Castle) both made it through the pandemic and are back to normal as well. There's still cruising on Fridays when I go but as before you have to be super discreet and either take it to a bathroom stall or elsewhere.

[ejaculaTe]

On 5/22/2022 at 12:09 PM, hntnhole said:

The first gay bar was on the South side of State St, maybe the 4 hundred block, and the owner was Earl, a retired cop.

The Office -- in the 500 block of East State St. I knew people who had gone to it 15 or 20 years before I began to patronize the place. 

 

On 5/22/2022 at 12:09 PM, hntnhole said:

Just when I was going away to school another bar opened up somewhere in the area, but I never went there. 

That would be the bar at  7th St & 5th Ave; the owner was a guy named Jack. It was generally a more pleasant place than the Office (or so I found it to be); I spent a good amount of time there each summer when I was home from college. Years later when my partner and I visited my parents, I learned that Jack had opened a bar waaaay out on West State St. We went over there one night, and one might easily imagine my surprise upon seeing, sitting at the bar, Curtis, one of the regulars from the 7th St bar. Time and alcohol had written their messages upon his visage, but Curtis remembered me with no prompting (as did Jack), much to the amusement of my partner.

[ellentonboy]

I don't think bath houses will ever go out of business.  They may be closed in some cities, but somehow or some way they will reemerge calling themselves something else.

I was under the impression bath house were out of business in San Fran, yet  when I first visited in 96 there were plenty of places to go, check your clothes, get naked and fuck.  They didn't sell alcohol, they were not part of a chain like Club Baths (or whatever it was called) but I had no trouble finding establishments like that  one.

Health officials may pressure city commissioners to close facilities. I'm not saying that won't happen.  But I think "where there is a will, there is a way".  I am surprised this topic gets much traction because organized sex parties are advertised on at least one hook up site that I am aware of.

Wait, am I in the right thread?

[theplayerking]

Bathhouses in the U.S. have been struggling for decades. The Internet has been really difficult for their business model. 

[BlackDude]

7 hours ago, theplayerking said:

Bathhouses in the U.S. have been struggling for decades. The Internet has been really difficult for their business model. 

I concur. Also a culture change. Guys are less piggy and more content to live under rules of straight society (I.e. SF). 

[NWUSHorny]

8 hours ago, theplayerking said:

Bathhouses in the U.S. have been struggling for decades. The Internet has been really difficult for their business model. 

At least here, the hookup apps seem to be dying faster than the hookup venues. There is actually a lot more fucking at my local bathhouse post pandemic than there was before, although it looks like the crowds are smaller. I can hope the crowd looks smaller because guys are getting their needs met and not staying as long.

[jz48811]

Both bathhouses in Denver have closed, hard to believe there isn't one anymore. Denver Swim Club didn't reopen from the pandemic and Midtown Spa is being bought out for redevelopment, probably a hell of a lot of money to the current property owners. 

I can't imagine Denver not having one but also doesn't seem like there are new bathhouses opening up anywhere.

Edited June 21, 2022 by jz48811