Club Portland, previously known as Club Baths or Continental Club Baths, was a
gay bathhouse in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, United States. In its place now is a hotel and a bar by
McMenamins.
Description
Located at Southwest 12th Avenue, the business operated 24 hours per day, 365 days of the year. Before closing on June 17, 2007, Club Portland was believed to be the largest bathhouse on the
West Coast of the United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
and was regarded as a "Stark Street icon of sorts".
Writing for ''
Just Out
''Just Out'' was an LGBTQ publication in Portland, Oregon founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance.
It ceased publication as a semimonthly newspaper in December 2011. In February 2012, Glenn-Kipp Publishing, Inc purchased the Just Out bran ...
'', Stephen Marc Beaudoin describe the final moments of the club as a place that "had become something of a Stark Street eyesore in its waning years".
History
Sources disagree on the opening year. ''
The Portland Mercury'' has said the business operating as Club Baths in 1971, and later became known as Club Portland.
The club's official website mentioned "Continental Club Baths" and "since 1967", as of April 2001. ''
Willamette Week
''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture.
History
Early history
''Willame ...
'' has said the club was established by Richard Lawson in 1987.
According to ''Willamette Week'', the club was "often blamed by public health officials and other community leaders as partly responsible for new waves of HIV and STD infections, though those accusations were near-impossible to prove".
''
Just Out
''Just Out'' was an LGBTQ publication in Portland, Oregon founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance.
It ceased publication as a semimonthly newspaper in December 2011. In February 2012, Glenn-Kipp Publishing, Inc purchased the Just Out bran ...
'' magazine and a
McMenamins marketing director toured the shuttered club guided by a construction supervisor for the project. After the club closed, construction crew found a file cabinet full of membership and employee records.
when the bathhouse called it quits, leaving highly private records—containing members’ and employees’ full contact information and, sometimes, copies of their driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and other identification—vulnerable to theft and duplication.
Additionally, the guide told them his crew found 100–150 hypodermic needles. When ''Just Out'' reached out to the club's former owner and inquired about the records, the magazine says Dick Lawson claimed, "There is nothing that remains of the bath records at this time." McMenamins retained the record and when Lawson was advised of this, he responded, "That's history. The building was sold a year and a half ago, and I will not comment further."
See also
*
Crystal Hotel (Portland, Oregon)
*
Sex clubs in Portland, Oregon
Many sex clubs have operated in Portland, Oregon, United States. Businesses have included adult movie theaters, dungeons, gay bathhouses, and swingers' clubs.
Adult movie theaters
The Oregon Theatre and the Paris Theatre have operated as a ...
References
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Companies, Human sexuality, LGBT, Oregon
2007 disestablishments in Oregon
Companies disestablished in 2007
Gay bathhouses in Oregon
LGBT culture in Portland, Oregon
LGBT history in Oregon
Southwest Portland, Oregon