Local
Bachelor’s Mill license remains in ‘limbo’
Popular gay bar has been closed since October
The co-owner of a company called Halo LLC that began negotiations to buy D.C.’s Bachelor’s Mill gay bar in 2017 said the “deal fell through” last June and he is unsure who currently holds the once popular bar’s liquor license.
In a little-noticed development, the Bachelor’s Mill located at 1102-1104 8th St., S.E. near the Washington Navy Yard closed its doors on Oct. 10, 2018, according to Courtney Williams, editor and publisher of the online local LGBT newsletter Community Life in the DMV.
Michel Daley, who owns Halo LLC with his business partner Jewell Elliot, said he and Elliot decided to discontinue plans to open their own club called Halo in the Bachelor’s Mill building after the building was sold in a foreclosure auction in June 2018.
He said his and Elliot’s plans were to buy the building at the same time they purchased the liquor license from Bachelor’s Mill owner David J. Lewis. Lewis couldn’t immediately be reached for comment this week.
The Bachelor’s Mill has catered to a mostly black gay clientele since it first opened in 1981 in another building at 8th and E Streets, S.E. The club moved to its location near the Navy Yard in 1988. Williams said Lewis acquired the club in 2007.
“This came as a surprise considering that during the week before closing the club kicked off a week of activities celebrating new management,” Williams said. He said a sign appeared on the building shortly after the club’s closing saying the building was up for leasing.
Aaron King, a spokesperson for the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, known as ABRA, told the Blade last week that ABRA records showed that the Bachelor’s Mills ownership and liquor license had been transferred to Halo LLC, but he could not provide a date for when that happened.
King also sent the Blade documents showing that Halo LLC had applied for placing the club’s license in ABRA’s office for “safekeeping,” a status that is required to prevent a license from being revoked if the business is no longer operating.
He sent the Blade another document showing that the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board approved a Temporary Operator’s Retail Permit to allow Halo LLC to operate the club on a temporary basis while it was in the process of acquiring the liquor license through a transfer from Bachelor’s Mill.
Daley told the Blade on Tuesday that an ABRA official declined to accept a check from Halo LLC for payment for placing the license in safekeeping, saying that Bachelor’s Mill owner Lewis appeared to have applied for the safekeeping status.
Asked whether he and his partner have any plans to open their club Halo in the Bachelor’s Mill building, Daley said, “We don’t plan to do that. Our involvement is gone.” But after pausing he added, “In theory, we can reinstate it if we had a conversation with the current owner.”
A spokesperson for Northeast Management Consulting LLC, the company that bought the Bachelor’s Mill building in June, declined to comment on the company’s plans for the building or whether it would allow a bar or club to continue operating there.
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The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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