Gay and Lesbian Bar Maps Elk Grove, IllinoisĪutomatically Optimizes for iPhone, Android, Smartphones "People were coming from Elgin, Cary, Wisconsin, everywhere to come to Hunters," he said.
Hunter said he isn't sad to see the building itself go - he says it's been in bad shape for years - but he suggested a marker be placed there to signify its importance in LGBTQ history. The village annexed the property and hired a demolition company to knock down the building - which they say is in disrepair - and prepare the site for future commercial development. The Elk Grove bar's last owner, Sam Cecola, the Barrington businessman who also owns the Admiral Theatre strip club in Chicago, sold the property to village officials for $1.35 million last June. Hunter sold the nightclub in 2013 when he moved to Florida and opened a club in Fort Lauderdale. "Many people spent their day hiding who they were, and to be able to be yourself was really important," he said. "We can talk to our gay families about things we can't talk to our blood families about," Benak said.Īnother regular, Gary Niemiec of Hoffman Estates, said when he started going to the bar in 1984, there were few other places in the suburbs where gay men could go and feel welcome. It's the nickname patrons affectionately gave to Emil Benak, one of the original and longtime bartenders, who became known for his sage advice. He knew that people needed a place to go just to be comfortable."Īnd like all families have a Grandma, so did Hunters. "Mark had more than a business going there. "For him to have the belief that this (bar) could make it out in the suburbs - and perhaps run into a lot of opposition - gives a lot of credit to who Mark is," said a longtime Elk Grove Village patron who only identified herself as Lori. Hunters hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for those who were alone or rejected by family. It also became a second home for many patrons.
"Hunters Elk Grove was big and obvious, and it was notorious," Hunter said. One of the hoteliers' big wigs even came in for a drink one time. from the beginning, Hunter eventually bought the 1.5-acre property from the company. Mark Hunter said there were few problems over the years or any outward discrimination from the community. Hunter, longtime patrons and former employees shared memories of love, love lost and lasting friendships at what became the most prominent gay bar in the suburbs. Hunter, now 68 and living in Florida, grew nostalgic amid news that the old building that housed his first nightclub will face the wrecking ball - perhaps as early as today - to make way for future development. It continued as Phoenix Bar & Nightclub for another six years under two different owners until its abrupt closure last November. Higgins Road operated as the go-to social gathering spot for the suburban LGBTQ community. They inked a lease for the building in October 1982 with the Hyatt Corp., which owned the neighboring motel.įor the next 31 years, Hunters nightclub at 1932 E. In the shadow of the Northwest Tollway, he and his wife Marion found a shuttered Beef 'N' Barrel restaurant along a dusty strip of Higgins Road in unincorporated Elk Grove Township. "I thought the LGBT community needed a nice place to go," said Hunter, who grew up a self-described suburban kid.