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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, May 16, 2008
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets, a popular gay nightclub known for its drag shows and male strippers, was expected to receive approval from the city this week to reopen in a new location in a warehouse district in Southwest D.C.
The reopening was set to take place more than two years after construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium uprooted it from its home of 30 years in a gay entertainment zone on O Street, S.E., which the stadium wiped out.
Cynthia Sims, a spokesperson for the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, said Ziegfeld’s/Secrets appeared set to receive clearance for the transfer of its liquor license to 1824 Half St., S.W., after no individuals or organizations surfaced to protest the license by an April 28 deadline. She said a hearing set by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for May 14 to assess potential opposition was cancelled when no protests were filed by the deadline.
Sims noted that Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D, which has jurisdiction over the area, voted to support the license transfer after Ziegfeld’s/Secrets reached a voluntary agreement with the ANC on issues related to the club’s operations. The terms of the agreement could not be obtained by press time. Simms said that although she expected the board to formally approve the liquor license transfer this week, Ziegfeld’s/Secrets must still receive clearance from other city agencies for routine regulatory requirements, such as a building permit and certificate of occupancy.
The club’s owner, Alan Carroll, said he had hoped to reopen sometime between Memorial Day and Gay Pride weekend, which takes place June 13-15. Ziegfeld’s/Secrets is the only one of at least eight gay entertainment clubs displaced by the stadium to be set to reopen
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