Longtime Lesbian Bar on Barracks Row Goes Up for ‘Sale or Lease’

One of the oldest LGBT bars in D.C. has hit the market.

Phase 1 (525 8th St. SE), which had catered to the District’s lesbians since 1970, shut its doors “until further notice” in February, according to a post on its Facebook page. Now, a “For Sale or Lease” banner hangs outside, local blog Capitol Hill Corner reported today.

“I’m not open right now — I’m taking a break,” co-owner Allen Carroll told Capitol Hill Corner. “I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve been open 46 years. I’ve got it up for sale or lease.”

This bar isn’t the only business geared toward the LGBT community to close on Capitol Hill in the past few years.

Remington’s (637-639 Pennsylvania Ave. SE), a gay bar, shut down in 2014 after operating for 30 years. The buildings that used to house Remington’s now consist of a Sprint outlet and a 7-Eleven store.

Phase 1’s closing was “truly a disappointing loss both to the local lesbian community and to Barracks Row,” executive director Martin Smith of Barracks Row Main Street told Capitol Hill Corner. “Phase 1 was one of the oldest businesses on 8th Street.”

Phase 1’s Dupont Circle outpost also closed last year.

Photo via Flickr/notionscapital