Club Trash, a short-lived alternative gay nightclub, opened at 2523 Market Avenue in October 1991. Seeking to capitalize on Cleveland’s emerging “gay and avant-garde” underground nightclub scene, club entrepreneur Hank Berger opened Club Trash in the building formerly inhabited by Babylon A Go-Go, a gay-friendly alternative nightclub. Berger likened Club Trash to a “cross between his very first club [in Cleveland], Traxx (which was a gay club), with a touch of his more recent Hank’s Cafe thrown in too.” Inside, Berger renovated and decorated the “unpretentious” Club Trash with “kitsch decor of the late ’50s and early ’60s” sourced from local thrift and resale stores on Lorain Avenue. During its opening in October 1991, however, Club Trash was shut down by city inspectors (purportedly because the owners of the former Babylon A Go-Go had failed to attain necessary permits before renovating the club). Though Berger was later able to obtain necessary permits needed to reopen Club Trash, the club ultimately “didn’t receive enough customer support to continue.” Club Trash closed in January 1992, only five months after it had first opened.
Scene. Ca. October 1991. 
Scene. Ca. October 1991. 
Scene. Ca. October 1991. 
Scene. Ca. 1991. 
The Cleveland Flats. Ca. December 1991. 
The Cleveland Flats. Ca. December 1991. 
The Cleveland Flats. Ca. December 1991. 
The Cleveland Flats. Ca. 1991. 
The Cleveland Flats. Ca. December 1991. 
The Cleveland Flats. Ca. December 1991.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- Brunstedt, Mike. The Cleveland Flats.
- Chernin, Donna. “Club Trash: It’s Officially Open.” Plain Dealer. December 20, 1991.
- Chernin, Donna. “Snow Ball Opening.” Plain Dealer. December 20, 1991.
- Glaser, Chris. “Chapter 13: Hank Berger.” Purple Armadillos: The Intellects, Entrepreneurs and Oddballs of Northeast Ohio’s LGBT Community in the 19th and 20th Centuries. June 21, 2010.
- Scott, Jane. “Losses.” Plain Dealer. January 10, 1992.
- Scott, Jane. “Old Clubs Get New Formats.” Plain Dealer. September 13, 1991.
- Strassmeyer, Mary. “From Traxx to Trash…” Plain Dealer. September 10, 1991.
- Strassmeyer, Mary. “New Clubs Brighten Night Scene.” Plain Dealer. December 5, 1991.