Ziegfeld's/Secrets Will Close Permanently [View all]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

MAY 1, 4:34 PM

Ziegfeld’s/Secrets Will Close Permanently

Lori McCue

Ziegfeld’s/Secrets, a gay club that’s been a hub of D.C.’s nightlife scene for 40 years, has closed its doors for good. The club’s Facebook page shared the news Friday.

“Regrettably the option to stay and even have a closing event has been taken from us during this crisis,” the post read. “To the many dancers, drag queen, bartenders, DJs, and support staff over the years thank you for making us one of D.C.’s best venues.”

Ziegfeld’s closed temporarily on March 16, according to its website, following Mayor Muriel Bowser’s order to shutter bars, restaurants, and other businesses to in-house service in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Though the financial impact of shuttering businesses has been felt in practically every industry in the region, it’s not clear whether the pandemic was related to Ziegfeld’s permanent closure. A call to the club was not immediately returned, and the voicemail box is full.

The Washington Blade reported in 2016 that the owner of Ziegfeld’s building (located across the street from what is now Audi Field) was nearing agreements to sell the property, and would force the club out in “two or three years.”

Dozens of fans mourned the bar’s closure on the Facebook post: “Thank you for providing us all with a safe space to act like crazy fools!” read one. Another, “the club was my home.”

Ziegfeld’s/Secrets opened in 1980 on Half St. SE. It was one of several gay clubs displaced from its site in 2006, when the city used eminent domain to vacate the land for the new Nationals Stadium. The club reopened a few blocks down, at 1824 Half St. SW, in 2009, where it’s been for the past 11 years.

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Ziegfeld’s/Secrets is the third gay bar to close in as many years in the District. Town Danceboutique and Cobalt closed in 2018 and 2019, respectively, both to make way for residential units. Town, at least, has plans to reopen in a former church in NoMa.