Rec Room, a lesbian women’s bar, opened at 15320 Brookpark Road in 1993. True to its name, the Rec Room featured a variety of table top games and sports (including pool tables, bowling, basketball) and large-screen TVs that broadcasted a variety of sports games onscreen. The Rec Room frequently featured live entertainment acts and hosted themed dances, parties, and special events of interest to local women’s communities. Thought the Rec Room was predominantly advertised itself as a women’s bar throughout the 1990s, it slowly began advertising itself to mixed-gender LGBT+ bar by the early-to-mid 2000s. The Rec Room closed sometime in the late 2000s (ca. 2008-2009).
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- Clement, Sue. “Best-Kept Secret.” Gay People’s Chronicle. August 18, 1995. Page 10.
- DeSimone, Bonnie. “Sweeping The Ice.” Plain Dealer. March 7, 1994.
- “Help Finding An Old Bar on Brookpark Rd. (Cleveland: tenants, club).” City-Data. April 26, 2020. [Note – The Rec Room was one of several businesses occupying the same building (shared address: 15320 Brookpark Road). It seems that the Rec Room occupied 15320 Brookpark Rd. alongside Guzzlers, Keno’s, and Nova’s at various points throughout its operating lifespan (ca.1993 to 2008/2009). This Google Earth image (low quality, ca.2007) may possibly show the Rec Room’s logo on the building’s exterior (rainbow; far left side).]
- Listed in Gay People’s Chronicle Resource Directory.
