{"id":69584,"date":"2023-03-30T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T17:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=69584"},"modified":"2023-03-30T11:01:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T17:01:17","slug":"the-backlot-bar-a-queer-space-in-peril","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/03\/30\/the-backlot-bar-a-queer-space-in-peril\/","title":{"rendered":"The Backlot Bar: A queer space in peril"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An LGBTQ+ community centre: <\/strong>The Backlot Bar in Calgary on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. It has been open on 10th Avenue since 1996, and is one of three queer spaces in Calgary. (Photo by Marcus Ogden\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he Backlot, a bar which has served as one of Calgary\u2019s only queer spaces since 1976, may be shut down upon the bar\u2019s lease expiring this coming November.<\/p>\n

S<\/span>tanding at 209 10th<\/sup>\u00a0Avenue S.W., the humble 116-year-old wood frame building that The Backlot has called home for 27 years is adorned with a pride flag which hangs over the sidewalk, and the bar\u2019s iconic neon sign; it is at risk of being torn down with an 18-storey multi-residential building with three commercial spaces to be built in its place.<\/p>\n

The Backlot is described by many as a staple of Calgary\u2019s LGBTQ+ community. \u201cIt was the first gay bar I personally went to. It is where I feel most comfortable on a night out and, beyond that, it\u2019s where the community feels comfortable\u201d says Michael Connolly, the former NDP MLA for Calgary Hawkwood. Only two other gay bars exist in Calgary: Twisted Element and The Texas Lounge. Other venues, notably Dicken\u2019s Pub, are known to host many queer-centred events but are not explicitly queer spaces.<\/p>\n

For Connolly, The Backlot holds an essential and specific place in the local scene; \u201ca lot of older people don\u2019t feel comfortable going to Twisted, some younger people don\u2019t feel comfortable going to the Texas Lounge. I find The Backlot is that happy medium where you can have drag shows and you can have fundraisers; you can do all these things in a very calm, nurturing friendly place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bar itself resides in a building originally built by Thomas Underwood, a former Calgary mayor who spearheaded many building projects, to house a workshop for the Calgary Gas Company in 1907. As stated on the\u00a0Calgary Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources<\/a>, the building\u2019s wood construction is considered a rare example of its kind contemporarily and it is one of the oldest relics of Alberta\u2019s oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Calgary Gay History Project<\/a>, The Backlot originally existed as an extension of another gay bar called Myrts, which opened on 9th<\/sup>\u00a0Avenue S.W. in 1976 and operated until New Year\u2019s Eve of 1982. The Backlot then was a small theatre which served as a stage for Myrts, hosting a range of events for up-and-coming performers and the queer community.<\/p>\n

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Vintage neon: <\/strong>The Backlot Bar’s signature sign in Calgary on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. The sign is a holdover from when the bar existed as a stage for Myrts and was stolen from the original location sometime after its closure before finding its way to 10th Avenue. (Photo by Marcus Ogden\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Backlot\u2019s 10th<\/sup>\u00a0Avenue iteration was opened in 1996. The bar is currently owned by Mark Campbell, who purchased and took over the bar in 2010 after working there since around 2002. Campbell describes The Backlot as the community\u2019s \u2018Cheers;\u2019 \u201cIf there\u2019s another event going on somewhere else, people will be here for drinks and then carry on to the other place.\u201d Campbell is also proud to say that The Backlot has helped the\u00a0Imperial Sovereign Court of The Chinook Arch<\/a>, Calgary\u2019s oldest gay non-profit organization, raise $600,000 for multiple charities over the past eight years.<\/p>\n

While Campbell says the pandemic was \u201cbrutal\u201d for The Backlot, he took the opportunity to invest the relief money offered by the government into renovations for the bar; \u201cWe totally ripped everything out. New foundation, new toilets, new POS system, new light fixtures, new speakers, new stage; you name it, I did it.\u201d These renovations also included extensive re-workings of the bar\u2019s interior and patio spaces. Campbell received word of the lease termination in November. \u201cI was pretty devastated,\u201d says Campbell.<\/p>\n

An application is in place to redevelop the block upon The Backlot\u2019s lease termination. A\u00a0proposal put forward by Truman Homes<\/a>, describes the development as an 18-storey mixed-use multi-residential building with 120 suites, a three-level underground parkade, and three retail spaces at the base. The proposal mentions that the development will \u201ccommemorate existing heritage buildings,\u201d possibly alluding to The Backlot.<\/p>\n

Morgan Huber, Senior Planner with the Greater Downtown Team, says \u201cWe\u2019ve completed our initial review of the application and are currently waiting on the applicant\u2019s response to The City\u2019s comments.\u201d Details about the application, as well as the portal to leave one\u2019s comments, can be found on the\u00a0Calgary Development Map website<\/a>. Interested members of the public are also able to watch\u00a0The Calgary Planning Commission<\/a>\u00a0live on the\u00a0City of Calgary website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

David Khan, a former politician and lawyer, has taken up the cause of saving The Backlot through a social media campaign<\/a>; \u201cIt\u2019s such an important space for our community. It\u2019s a space that we need.\u201d Khan goes on to describe the good that The Backlot and Campbell have done for Calgary\u2019s queer community; \u201c[They\u2019ve] allowed us a place to go gather and celebrate, and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for community events, initiatives, groups, sports teams, and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A central point for Khan is that The Backlot\u2019s potential closure would come when Calgary\u2019s LGBTQ+ community is especially vulnerable and experiencing an influx of harassment. \u201cThe fact that we\u2019re experiencing threats of violence and demonstrations against drag shows, of all things, in the middle of the city and Olympic Plaza is evidence that we continue to need these spaces,\u201d says Khan, referencing a protest which occurred in Olympic Plaza in response to an all-ages drag skating event that was to be put on by the Chinook Blast on Feb. 10 before organizers decided to postpone it due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n

Campbell reassures that, even if the redevelopment is approved, \u201cThe Backlot is not going away.\u201d Campbell and Khan have both mentioned participating in negotiations with the property\u2019s landlords and with Truman Homes; \u201cthey\u2019ve been pretty, pretty cool, and I\u2019m keeping it positive,\u201d says Campbell. A possible alternate solution includes The Backlot taking over one of the commercial spaces included in the development; \u201cthe only problem with that is that that\u2019s three-to-five years down the road by the time that gets built,\u201d says Campbell. Should the development be approved, the other route that could be taken would be moving to another location as The Backlot has done in the past. \u201cWe really want to be focused on ensuring the city and the developers know how important it is to us and how critical it is to be saved, and then come to the table and solve this co-operatively,\u201d says Khan.<\/p>\n

Those interested in sharing their concerns about the redevelopment are encouraged to contact the review team through the commenting function of the\u00a0development map website<\/a> and, as Khan says, \u201cMake sure you get 10 of your friends to do the same.\u201d Specific instructions on the process can be found on the Save The Backlot Bar website<\/a>, which lists the steps one needs to take and provides a letter one can include with their submission. Indicating an extension from the original Feb. 17 deadline, Huber says \u201cThe Development Applications Review Team is happy to receive comments on the application until Feb. 28.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Carrying on a legacy:<\/strong> Mark Campbell, the owner of The Backlot, stood at the bar in Calgary on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023.
Campbell acquired the bar after working for the previous owner and co-founder, Ken Schultz, for eight years. Schultz asked Campbell if he was interested in buying the bar in 2008, desiring to retire. (Photo by Marcus Ogden\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As its lease is set to terminate in November, The Backlot may be shut down and an 18-storey multi-residential building with three commercial spaces might be built in its place. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":828,"featured_media":69589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S3 Backlot MO","footnotes":""},"categories":[1429,1432,3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-69584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-beltline","8":"category-business-jobs","9":"category-city","10":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/828"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69584"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70218,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69584\/revisions\/70218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}