Gay bars champaign il
63 Chester Street: theBar
From 1978 to 2017, 63 Chester Highway in Champaign was home to two prominent LGBTQ spaces that were famous throughout the Midwest scene: theBar and Chester Street.
On Easter Day in 1978, theBar opened at 63 Chester Highway, under the ownership of Joe McNamara, Tim White, and Mike Short, all of whom were former employees at Giovanni's, a trendy Champaign gay block. Joe McNamara became the sole owner of theBar within the first several months. When it opened, theBar advertised a full restaurant, a side room bar, a disco, and a game room.
theBar's name came from the coded language that homosexual people would often use when talking about a homosexual bar. Instead of talking about going to "the homosexual bar," people would say "the bar."theBar's name was a coded way of telling others it was a harmless place for lgbtq+ men, lesbians, and other queer people to meet up with others and socialize.
With disco rising in popularity, it was widespread to have a live DJ. Joe was inspired by discotheques such as Studio 54 and aspired to twist theBar into Champaign's own disco see that could contend with the extravagance of the larger cities' bars. As his live DJ, Joe hired Doug Barne
‘Fractured’ and ‘disconnected,’ CU queer community seeks specific spaces
‘Support groups are not enough’: CU’s queer group works for more cohesion
CHAMPAIGN — Despite feeling like “there’s no shortage of queer people in Champaign,” finding the LGBTQ community in Champaign-Urbana wasn’t straightforward for 21-year-old Arden Hatch when she moved here in 2020 and came out as a trans woman.
“I consider the community feels very disconnected,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know each other.”
She says a enormous part of why it took so long to join with others in the LGBTQ people was the lack of specific spaces for queer events or even just to gather.
“There’s no place we can go and just be ourselves with other people,” Hatch said.
Eventually, she launch Uniting Pride of Champaign County, which hosts various help groups and occasional events. Though she said she’s grateful for everything the organization does and she now volunteers with the non-profit, Uniting Pride didn’t completely fulfill her needs.
“Support groups are not enough to foster a unified sense of homosexual community in Champaign,
The Balloon Saloon
In March 1974, U of I Professor Jack Adam and his partner Bill Burke opened C-U's first openly homosexual bar, The Balloon Saloon, located at 317 N. Fremont St., Champaign. The bar was an instant success popular with queer men, gay women, drag queens, and drag kings. They were open 7 days a week, had a live DJ, and would host drag performances, such as a Miss Champaign competition in 1975 that featured "a couple dozen drag queens from all around the state" ("Where gays can feel unfettered", Daily Illini, July 8, 1975).
By 1975, The Balloon Saloon became a known hotspot for gay people around the Midwest, with out-of-towners traveling from St. Louis and Indianapolis to go there. One patron said "Champaign is the biggest gay scene in this part of the Midwest, outside of Chicago. Springfield used to be a big scene, but it's died out. Now everyone comes here."
People would gather to hang out, celebrate holidays and birthdays, and organize performances at The Balloon Saloon. There were people who would get into drag specifically to perform at the bar, and people would also get into drag just for the fun of dressing up with their friends.
One year after
Suffice it to say, 63 Chester Street should possess been placed on the American Registry of Historic Places years ago, certainly before all the devastating “renovations” and arson and collapse that stripped it of its unique nature. Then again, for the longest time Chester Highway east of the Illinois Central Railroad wasn’t considered part of downtown Champaign, despite being one block from Illinois Terminal. Perhaps that is why it was rarely appreciated by the City of Champaign, even during its downtown revitalization efforts.
Now it is gone, destroyed.
Such a deficit was doubly impactful with Monday, June 28 marking exactly 52 years since the Stonewall rebellion in New York City — a tipping point for the gay liberation movement.
Maybe in some profound way, the confluence of this event and the Stonewall anniversary is meant to signal a new launch. I can only aspire, however, that we never forget the memorable experiences that thousands upon thousands of residents and visitors enjoyed at the historic landmark known as 63 Chester Street, Champaign, Illinois.