Coconut Club, Downtown Austin LGBTQ clubs respond to demolition order
https://www.mysanantonio.com/busines...n-17078819.php
Who doesn't want a "cool, chef-driven restaurant" in Austin?
On its face, it's a pretty innocuous notion put forth by a new developer hoping to transform Fourth Street in Downtown Austin. To Coconut Club and Neon Grotto co-owner Cole Evans, it's an empty platitude, the latest in an ongoing push to change his city.
"It sounds like a pitch from someone who doesn't really know kind of what the community is they're serving," Evans tells MySA. "It sounds like development buzz-speak to me."
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At a meeting with the architectural review committee of the Austin Historic Landmark Commission on Monday, April 11, developers presented a proposal to transform the block at West Fourth and Colorado Streets. Hanover representatives hope to present their case before the entire commission on May 4, at which time, demolition could be approved, which would radically change the look and cultural fabric of the area.
The article notes that Oilcan Harry's, which has a 30-year history in Austin, would be given a second life under Hanover's plan. After getting a temporary relocation, a new space in the tower would be afforded to the club at reduced rent. No such luck for the other LGBTQ clubs on the block.
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"The response from the community has been incredible. I've seen a ton of people posting about it, people are going to City Hall to fight it, to make sure that we can keep it," Evans says. "We're very appreciative of that and I really, really love it."
Evans doesn't think that LGBTQ clubs are necessarily being targeted by developers, even in light of the recent news of The Iron Bear's apparent impending demise. He chalks it up to the clubs' prime downtown geography and, at the very least, takes solace in the notion that at least Oilcan Harry's can remain on Fourth Street in some capacity.
"I don't know what the motives are, but I do know how I feel about it," Evans says. "And I do know that it's going have a lot of fallout for the community of queer culture in Austin, and the repercussions will definitely be there whether or not the motives are malicious or not."