In 1945, the Bolter family purchased the hotel and would transform the downstairs of 530 Yonge into The Parkside Tavern. History: The northwest corner of Yonge and Breadalbane was once occupied by the Hotel Breadalbane. With the help of two rare DJ mixes, we revisit the early-‘80s Yonge Street club that provided Toronto’s gay community with a safe haven and showcased cutting-edge dance-music sounds, before the spectre of AIDS brought the party to a close. Photo by Terry Robson, courtesy of Arnie Kliger.Īrticle originally published Decemby The Grid online (). “Eventually Mike’s dad, Bob, suggested that we should get our own space, and he funded the creation of Empire with a quarter-of-a-million dollar investment,” says Craig. As their crowds increased each week, so too did the building manager’s rent demands. Together, they produced events including The House, a weekly underground jam held at the Party Centre at Church and Shuter. Craig left TKO to join a new crew, Romantic Sounds, which was started by Marier. As a teen, Craig had been an MC and DJ in TKO Sound Crew, a popular group that was eventually inducted into the Stylus Awards Hall of Fame in 2008. Charles was a shadow of its former self and closed.Ī year later, the upper level would re-open as Empire Dancebar, a versatile venue dreamed up by friends Dave Craig and Michael Marier. By 1987, following years of neglect, the St. A club called Y-Not also operated upstairs in the mid 1980s. A number of discos opened above it over the years, with the most popular being The Maygay and Charly’s. Charles, while also remembered as the focus of homophobic attacks (especially at Halloween), remains one of this city’s best-known gay bars of all time. It, along with the nearby Parkside Tavern, became a significant gathering spot that would help hasten the development of queer social life anchored around Yonge during the 1970s. 3, which remained at the address until its move around the corner, to Grosvenor Street, in 1929.Īfter the hall closed on Yonge, that building was occupied by retail businesses until the St. It was built in 1870, as part of the original Toronto Fire Hall No. History: In a city where history is so often obliterated or obscured to make way for the new, there’s something comforting about the old clock tower still found atop 484-488 Yonge.
This edition of Denise Benson’s Toronto-nightlife history series tells the story of how a local gay-community landmark was reborn in the late ’80s as a cutting-edge alternative club where you could dance to acid-rock and acid-house alike. Photo courtesy of Michelle Fabry.Īrticle originally published Octoby The Grid online (). Hopefully.The Empire crew is decked out and ready to dig Psychedelic Wednesdays. It's also famous for its after-hours weekend dance parties, which the staff promises will return post-COVID. are some of its most popular activities, but the bar has also hosted crawfish boils, chili cook-offs, and political fundraisers. Drag performances, bingo games, Latin and country dance nights, and karaoke hosted by Claudia B. Charlie’s events calendar is just as diverse. Today, the place boasts a larger dance floor, an even bigger parking lot, a taco truck out front, an outdoor patio with two bars and bleacher seating in the back, and a wide cross-section of the entire LGBT community. As times and interests changed (and competition increased) so did Charlie’s. In those days, the “lil bitty ol’ pissant country place” and dance hall opened by John King (co-founder of the International Gay Rodeo Association) was aimed at gay urban cowboys and country music fans. Charlie’s is a slice of Phoenix gay bar history huddled along Camelback Road just west of Seventh Avenue since its debut in 1984.