Aug. 18, 2010 - Issue #774: Blues Fest
Queermonton
New home in an old space
Prism finds everything it needs in an old gay bar
Deborah Chymyshyn and Tracey Smith have been running Prism Bar & Grill for the past two years but have been looking for a new place for nearly half of that, due mostly to the lesbian bar's cramped space. Sick of turning people away during popular events and hearing the occasional complaints about the bar's location, they'd been searching Edmonton for a larger venue with a patio. What they found was a new spot and a new name: junction will be opening in the old Boots 'n Saddles spot.
Boots n' Saddles had closed after 30 years, when owner Jim Schafer passed away. Edmonton lost its home for bears, daddies, admirers and other mostly older male patrons who were looking for a relaxed hang out. Regulars dispersed and in a surprising move, many headed to Prism.
Chymyshyn says the additions fit in easily. "Since Boots shut down a lot of the men have come because they didn't know where to go [and] we and the ladies have welcomed them with open arms. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the guys say, 'We finally get to party with our sisters.'"
Moving into Boots' location also meant gaining a restaurant space, Garage Burger. The junction eatery will become Edmonton's only queer-centric restaurant, filling an important niche. "The eatery is fully licensed so if anybody has kids—and there's a lot of people in the community who have kids—and they would love to come out and have dinner and meet their friends and come to a community-supported venue, we can offer that."
The menu will serve homemade hamburgers and fries, featuring holdovers from Garage and a special new junction burger. They will also feature favourites from Prism, along with floats and old-fashioned candy, items that fit nicely into the restaurant's diner atmosphere. In a unique move, the restaurant will be open all weekend, from 11 am Friday to Sunday at 8 pm. After last call, patrons can move to the restaurant for breakfast, eliminating the horrid trek to Denny's that any homo under 40 has made and promptly, vastly regretted.
Chymyshyn explains that all the renovation has been done by volunteers. She says that both men and women showed up to help, often just arriving at the door with their work clothes on. "I could do pages of interviews of the amazing stories I could tell about the people who have come forward to help us out. I could cry, I'm just overwhelmed," says Chymyshyn, adding that they couldn't have done it without the support.
"We want to make it very clear that this is Tracey and Deborah's space. No one is backing us, there are no secret investors or anything," she says, referring to rumours that like other recent gay clubs, junction is owned by some shady hetero conglomerate. She says that her and her wife chose to turn down investment offers and keep it to just the two of them. "It is us. We are it."
When they moved into the space, they found a treasure trove of memorabilia of Edmonton's gay past. Posters dated back to the '70s. Plans are underway to form a committee to pick out pieces and digitally create collages to decorate the bar with, recognizing our history.
Along with combining clientele, the duo also recruited staff from Prism, Play, Boots and even from the Roost. Chymyshyn says the problem was finding spaces for all the people who wanted to work there. Junction also has a unique approach to staffing; employees don't have titles, she says everyone is expected to be part of the team. "The bartender may be asked to clean the toilet and needs to be okay with that."
Junction will continue to host groups like Womonspace, the Pride Centre and ISCWR for fundraising activities. They plan on shifting many of the popular events to junction, like Prism's karaoke night and pool league. Comedians, live music and a dart league are all in the pipeline, says Chymyshyn. "At the end of the day that we can have a place to come together and be together, be who we are and where we want to be. If they can come and enjoy that in this space, then we've done our job." V
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