![the woodward gay bar detroit the woodward gay bar detroit](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/28/PDTN/e47a7fcb-dcb1-4cba-9010-75314298cb0e-Invisible.jpg)
“We have city hall just a couple doors down. He said he’s excited to come back and patronize the new establishment. The venue was packed with attendees, including Mayor Hubert Yopp. The red carpet was rolled out for an invitation-only soft opening Wednesday night. Live music will be Wednesdays and DJ nights will kick off with “Thirsty Thursday” and run through Saturday. The space includes a pool table, a small dance floor and outdoor patio seating. He bought the building in 2017 and did most most of the renovations himself. Johnson, a longtime Highland Parker and crane operator at U.S. Bar & Grille (not to be confused with an iconic Detroit gay bar of a similar name) is owned by Lawrence J. “It means that our people, people in the community, don’t have to go downtown to have somewhere nice to sit and have a drink or listen to some music,” said Smith. He says the upscale sports bar and music venue will fill a void in Highland Park. George Smith is one of the managers of the establishment. That is changing tonight with the official opening of Woodward Ave. McNichols, but by the time I returned the building was vacant, burned out, and on its way to being torn down.As WDET previously reported, it’s been decades since anyone can remember a bar in Highland Park.
![the woodward gay bar detroit the woodward gay bar detroit](https://ebrcgtryq1-flywheel.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/S2_MenjoHistory_2615_SQ.jpg)
When I left here Bookie's was still running at 870 W. I didn't know that there was anyplace else called The Alcove after that, but it probably happened during the time I left town. I was regularly in both places back then.
![the woodward gay bar detroit the woodward gay bar detroit](https://irs3.4sqi.net/img/general/300x300/91558837_II-4A52EXsNxb_Qo3zRgnkZ1_dO5UF2yjg6L8v1VHh8.jpg)
That's when Vince went and started the original Clutch Cargo's in the old Womens City Club building on Park downtown.Īs for the Alcove, the original owner died some time in the late '70s and his family sold it to some guys who worked there who were the ones that turned it into Z's Place. There was eventually a dispute over the running of the club in the early '80s, and Bookie himself threw Vince out. Vince Bannon's band, Coldcock, was one of the earliest bands to play there, and Vince helped Scott run the place for awhile. I was around there several nights a week back in those days. So it was Scott who founded Bookies as a punk rock club, and ran the place, booked the bands, rented and ran the PA, etc. In 1978 Scott Campbell brought in his band, the Sillies, to play there and thus inaugurated a new music policy. Bookie was the legendary manager and owner of several earlier Detroit gay bars, including the famous [[infamous?) Diplomat on Second. Well, the original Bookie's was actually founded by the original Bookie - Bookie Stewart.