TheeClub

By: NilsClausson

In the early 1970s "Thee Club" was the only gay/lesbian bar in Halifax. It was located in the GreenLantern Building. It was owned and operated by DavidGray, who was also the first Treasurer of Gay Alliance for Equality (G.A.E, GaeGala.) "The Club" was located on the third floor (i.e,, two floors above the street entrance; there were apartments and some businesses on the second floor and Dave Gray lived in one of the apartments).

I first went to "Thee Club" in June of 1972 to attend a GAE meeting. The club consisted of a large dance floor area surrounded on three sides by smaller rooms with tables and chairs, and a tiny canteen area that also doubled as the DJ booth. Dave played the music and TomBurns, the first chairperson of GAE, worked the box office and/or canteen, with Dave helping out while a record was playing. The cover charge, as I recall, was around two dollars and "Thee Club" was not licensed.

I became close friends with Dave and Tom and by the fall of 1972 I worked the canteen and Dave and Tom looked after the box office, with Dave still playing the music. When the club moved to the top floor, I continued to work the canteen. BrianDoat was the DJ. I left Halifax in May 1976, though I returned that Xmas and the following summer to visit Dave and my other friends there. "The Club" was still owend by Dave at that time. So my recollections of "Thee Club" are based on my close friendship with Tom and Dave (all three of us were heavily involved in the GAE) and on the fact that I worked (i.e., volunteered) there from 1972 to 1976, except for the period I was away in London, England.

The decor could best be described as dark and dingy, though this did not seem to bother anyone. It was open only on Friday and Saturday nights from 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM, and on long weekends it would be open an extra evening. I do not know the exact date it opened, but it would have been in either 1970 or 1971. (Perhaps the City of Halifax would have a record of Dave's business license, assuming he had one.)

"The Club" moved to the top (5th?) floor of the Green Lantern Building in the summer of 1974. That space (larger than the third-floor space) was renovated by Dave, BrianDoat, who was volunteer DJ in the club from late 1973 to 1977, and myself. Thee Club continued to operate in that space for the next few years under David Gray's ownership and management.

After the GAE opened The Turret across the street, David decided to sell "Thee Club" to CondonMacLeod? some time in mid-1977, when it was called CondonsBar. I never frequented it since by then I had left Halifax. I do not know how long Condon operated his bar.

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