Club Argos, a gay sports bar, opened at 2032 West 25th Street in 2006. Argos (formerly Longevity) advertised itself as an “alternative sports bar.” Brian Kaufman-Butler purportedly conducted a survey of potential customers before opening the bar and found that his target audience, gay men, “wanted a place where they [could] watch football or basketball in peace.” In turn, Kaufman-Butler opened Argos to meet this need, welcoming “everybody: lesbians gays, straights. As long as they’re tolerant.” Argos featured drinks, food, a “lodge-like lion’s den,” and boasted 11 large TVs that displayed “Cavs, Browns, and Tribe games” throughout the bar. Argos also featured a “Chippendale inspired” “six-man dance team,” the Argonauts, whose primary job was to “[boogie] around the bar twice a week in undies embroidered with the club’s logo.” Club Argos closed in 2011. The club reopened shortly after as Club Lemons & Limes.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- Glaser, Chris. “Club Argos: A New Gay Sports Bar.” Scene. November 29, 2006.
- Glaser, Chris. “Dirty Dancing.” Scene. December 13, 2006.
- Glaser, Chris. “Rich Man, Pour Man.” Scene. February 13, 2008.
- Labelle, Michael. “West Side Bars.” The Guide Magazine. March 2009. Page 45.
- Mattson, Greggor. “Before It Was Hingetown.” Belt Magazine. June 15, 2016.
- “Ohio Division of Liquor Control Denies Renewal of Liquor Permit for Club Argos in Ohio City.” Plain Press. April 1, 2011.