Mona Holmes
Since the first Los Angeles wave of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic began in earnest back in March of last year, the city’s queer restaurants, bars, cafes, and clubs have faced an uphill battle. Extended shutdowns, few federal avenues for financial assistance, and ongoing lease issues have each dealt heavy blows to the close-knit community in the past 10 months, and now LA is down one more: Studio City’s 52-year-old Oil Can Harry’s is closing permanently.
Owner John Fagan posted the news on his website days ago, noting that the property “was purchased on December 9th by a new buyer, who wants to have their own venue with jazz music.” The address was put up for sale in November, and at first it seemed that a new deal could be put in place to allow Oil Can Harry’s to stick around under new ownership. A November 15 post on the bar’s Facebook page said “the new owner shall work with OCH on new terms of our lease agreement,” insinuating a continuation of t
Canyon News
STUDIO CITY The historic Studio City dance bar, Oil Can Harry’s, will permanently close after 52-years of business. According to the statement made on Oil Can Harry’s website, the bar was sold on December 9 to a new buyer and who plans to convert it to a jazz bar.
Monte Overstreet, the landlord who owns the buildings for Rage Nightclub, Flaming Saddles, and West Hollywood’s Gold Coast Bar all have closed from failed rent payments. Oil Can Harry’s will close because of failure to pay rent and impacts from COVID-19.
Owner John Fegan took control of the bar after the death of previous owner, Bob Tomasino, in 2013 and posted back in November 2020 that the bar was only closed due to COVID-19.
Courtesy of Interiorstate
LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city are struggling to stay afloat amid the pandemic, with four West Hollywood institutions having already permanently shut their doors.
For more than 35 years, West Hollywood has been a Mecca for queer-owned businesses, housing dozens of gay bars and clubs along Santa Monica Boulevard. The past nine months, though, have seen the future of these businesses jeopardized, as they have been hit especially hard by the pandemic shutdown, with Silver Lake s Akbar recently launching a GoFundMe drive in order to secure its future.
Four popular gay bars have permanently closed in West Hollywood since March: Flaming Saddles, Gold Coast, Rage and Gym Bar. Studio City s Oil Can Harry s posted on Jan. 4 that the owners had been forced to sell the property in December after 52 years in business.
Courtesy of Akbar
Iconic Silver Lake queer bar Akbar has been inundated with donations in the past 24 hours, raising over $150,000 from more than 2,500 donors. Each dollar is aimed at keeping the historic spot alive into 2021 and beyond, thus preserving one of LA’s queer bar icons for years to come.
What’s even more amazing: Akbar’s fundraising page wasn’t even supposed to happen yet.
Late last week, co-owner Peter Alexander quietly posted the $150,000 fundraiser on popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe, hoping to save his 24-year-old Silver Lake bar from closing forever as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. He and co-owner Scott Craig quietly set up the page and hoped to begin raising funds on Wednesday, December 16, with a push on social media and everything. Both patiently waited for the designated start date, not realizing the fundraiser web page remained public.
UPDATE: DECEMBER 18, 2020 Scott Craig and Peter Alexander, owners of beloved Silver Lake gay bar Akbar, can rest a little easier this holiday season. A GoFundMe page they set up to help the bar weather the prolonged COVID-19 shutdown exceeded its $150,000 goal in a matter of days.
“We’re as high as kites over here,” Alexander told Eater L.A. earlier this week. “
L.A. magazine just went ahead and published their story and things started happening. We’re so humbled and awed by the response.”
As COVID-19 conditions worsen and it remains unclear when drinking holes will be able to reopen, the bar’s fundraising goal has since been raised to $250k.