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Postcard ca. 1970 courtesy RobinMetcalfe.
The Green Lantern building, 1585 Barrington Street, was erected in 1896 (as displayed on the pediment on the top floor). This building housed numerous gay bars and other businesses in the 1970s. At the time, it was between Zellers (which became ReflectionsCabaret) and the Paramount Theatre.
The building was "the hub of the gay community" in 1971 - 1972 says TommyBurns1
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NilsClausson writes: this was the hub of the gay scene not only because of TheeKlub run by DavidGray, but also because it had five small apartments on the second floor all occupied by gay men, including me and Dave and TommyBurns and TommyMiller, as well as others.
TomBurns? also briefly operated a gay book store on the top floor of the GreenLantern Building in 1974 or '75. I also remember TommyMiller, who lived in the GreenLantern Building and was a leading drag queen.
The all-night restaurant in the basement of the building, with its entrance on Granville St, was called Alma's. 2 "The only place where you could get a shot of vodka in a cup and saucer!"3 DeneRoach: "Always a major blast on weekends!! And we loved the overnight and underground "restaurant" called Alma's."4
GordonThomas?: The first job I had in Halifax was in an optical lab in the Green Lantern building. Worked Monday to Friday and then partied at David’s on Saturday5
Someone put together a panorama of the block.6
2004
April 10, 2017: "The Green Lantern Building next door is also under construction and will be gutted with its brick facade staying where it is. That project is slated to cost between $25 million and $30 million."7
By RandGaynor
I had rented the small space in the centre of the top floor of the Green Lantern Building, directly across from The Turret, for my graphic design studio, around 1980. I'm not sure if the bookstore came before or after me.
The only other business I remember there was the office of The Barometer, a sleazy "newspaper" run by the irascible Harry Flemming. After Condon's club closed I rented that space, the entire half of the top floor, as a larger studio and apartment, which I shared with MertMattice and TerryDespres. We had a shower installed in Condon's old DJ booth, and a sink in our "kitchen" area at the back.
The windows face the harbour. This was approved by the building management, who we paid rent to. Facing the building, the four top left windows were on one end of Condon's dance floor, the next four windows were in smaller rooms we used as bedrooms. My studio was at the back, its door opening into the common hallway outside. As we had no toilet in the "apartment" we used the public washroom on the same floor.
Due to the large floor space, we were able to install a swing and a trapeze, which visitors enjoyed immensely. I don't remember if the street entrance was open all night, but the elevator did run, sometimes stopping between floors, which was unnerving.
There was no noise from a club in the building (we lived in it) but every night the Turret blasted late night dance music into our bedrooms. We became accustomed to this, with one exception: the frequent boisterous replaying of I Will Survive. One night I had to go over to tell ChrisShepherd, the DJ, that if he didn't simmer down on that song, I'd be back, and that record would not survive. Believe it or not, I hated the song so much I didn't even know what it was about until I heard it last year (2023) at a restaurant with karaoke, in the south of France.
A notable slightly surreal event was one occasion when word got out that we were having a party. About 100 guys showed up, most we didn't know, and all hanging out in the same cliques, in the same locations where they used to gather when it was a club. Another was the afternoon when several police officers with weapons drawn burst into our place and ordered us not to move, searching for cocaine that we figured was coming from The Barometer office. As they ignored a large bag of marijuana on my desk, Michael Naugler stood up, crossed the floor, and said "Shoot me if you want, I'm going to roll a joint." Which he did. We smoked it as the unconcerned police, with handguns still drawn, watched. I miss those days.
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