The world-renowned Parliament House Resort closed its doors in November 2020. It was a sad day that shocked the Orlando and Worldwide LGBTQ+ community. Not only was it one of the only gay resorts in the country but it consistently made our list of the Top 30 Gay Nightclubs in the World
The Parliament House owner spoke at the closing announcement that he had plans to find a new home with rumors circulating in the months to follow that they were considering the historic train station at Church Street, the shuttered Ceviche, Firestone, Kissimmee, and even some of the spaces at Wall St. Plaza.
The wait is over as Granatstein finally confirmed that Parliament House will be reopening in the former home of the CityArts Factory at 29 S. Orange Avenue [GMap], at the corner of Pine Street and Orange Avenue.
The 18,000 SF building, which is currently only occupied by SAK Comedy Lab on the second floor, recently sold to new owners who are operating under the name “Positively Pine Street LP” for an estimated $5 million.
Jack Witthaus of Orlando Business Journal reported earlier in the day that a demolition permit had already been applied for to clear out the interior of the building.
Let’s hope that Gay Days and One Magical Weekend are able to work coordinating events for June 2022 when they return the legendary Disney LGBTQ+ weekend.
Parliament House recently responded to followers on Facebook saying there will be a sit-down theater on-site but whether or not that will be separate or in cooperation with SAK Comedy Lab is yet to be shared. A Parliament House spokesperson has said to stay tuned for future news by following their social pages on Instagram and Facebook.
A timeline for the new venue to open has not been released at this time of this post.
While we are excited that a new Phouse is coming in the near future it did have a week worth of shade from two bars that have remained open since it closed down. Southern Nights Orlando and Savoy both made social media posts following the Phouse’s 1-2-3 coming soon post. Some in the LGBTQ+ community felt it was a little too shady for a community that has been through grief and should be more supportive of each other.
One top fan of the Southern Nights page said “The djs were the stars of any good club. I miss the remixes and the energy they created.”
Another fan commented “No disrespect but for a community built on No H8, Love Wins and for Unity this entire display shows hypocrisy. Much love to Southern Nights but PH has way more history in the LGBT community than most clubs in the nation (at the least). Respect your “elders” and Do Better.”
We are glad to see the reinvention of a nightclub especially after Covid has taken away so many restaurants and bars.
The LGBT community has also hoped for the reopening of Pulse Nightclub in a way to stand up to hate. In 2017, In an interview with Barbara Poma of Pulse Nightclub, an ABC-affiliated station learned that she was actively looking for a new location to “fill a community need and to make sure hate doesn’t win.”
Pulse management, behind the nonprofit organization OnePulse Foundation, said in a statement that it is raising money toward that goal. Earlier in the day, the foundation erroneously said in a Facebook post that Pulse was reopening as a memorial. Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for the nightclub, told TIME Magazine that a member of Pulse’s social media team misunderstood the facts about the fund and incorrectly published the post.
“OOPS! Looks like we got the media’s pulse racing with an inadvertent Instagram posting that incorrectly stated the Pulse Nightclub was reopening…” Brady said in a statement. Pulse remains closed for business, but its owner Barbara Poma’s “desire is that someday a memorial be created at the site,” the statement added.
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