Last call at the Boom Boom Room looms

Legendary gay venues the Boom Boom Room and the Coast Inn will have their last summer flings in Laguna Beach ? unless a band of petitioners convinces its new owner otherwise.

Patrick O’Loughlin, co-owner of the Boom Boom Room and the Coast Inn, said it’s over for his landmark businesses that cater to gays.

At the end of September, the lease on the establishments expires, and is unlikely to be renewed, O’Loughlin said.

O’Loughlin said the property’s new landlord, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, wants to renovate it and is also asking for a higher rent.

“We won’t be able to stay for the renovation, and economically it doesn’t make sense,” O’Loughlin said.

Udvar-Hazy, No. 125 on Forbes magazine’s list of wealthiest Americans, was not available for comment about his plans for the ocean-view property.

Last November, Udvar-Hazy ? through his Emerald Financial, LLC ? bought every parcel on the 100 block of Mountain Road for an estimated $25 million.

Included in the purchase were the properties on which Coast Liquor, Gay Mart and a residential home now stand.

To many, the beachfront block represents the heart of Laguna’s gay community.

From conversations with Udvar-Hazy, O’Loughlin said he believes a boutique hotel is being considered by the billionaire.

But before the last drink is poured and the final drag queen exits the stage at the Boom Boom Room, they’ll have to listen to Fred Karger and friends.

This Fourth of July weekend, Karger is leading a petition drive seeking to prevent the Boom Boom Room from being shuttered.

Karger, 56, is retired from the public relations business and has been a Laguna resident for 10 years.

“In Santa Barbara, first the gay clubs went, then the gay population. I’d hate to see the same thing happen here,” Karger said.

“We’ve set a goal to get 5,000 signatures,” he added.

Karger hopes the signatures will influence Udvar-Hazy, as well as the City Council, to keep the Boom Boom Room alive.

Mayor Steve Dicterow said he recognizes the significance of the gay commercial market but said there is little government can do to tell a landlord who its tenant is.

Karger’s campaign also draws on the Boom Boom Room’s history as one of the oldest gay bars in the country, which draws gay travelers. As such, there may be more at stake than just the club. To many, the Boom Boom Room represents a cornerstone to what appears to be a crumbling gay tourist industry in Laguna.

O’Loughlin claims his club is one of the five oldest gay clubs in the country. The club first opened its doors in the 1960s, when the gay population in Laguna began to swell.

As home to Orange County’s first openly gay politician, former mayor Bob Gentry, Laguna Beach has always been considered progressive, Karger said.

The nightclub has a long history.

Palm Springs resident Mark Miller, actor Rock Hudson’s former secretary, said he remembers two gay clubs in Laguna before the Boom Boom Room. Hudson’s studio bosses forbade him from going to the clubs, but Miller would go on his own, he says.

“We had two gay bars near Main Beach, but I persuaded them to move it all south to have our own area,” 80-year-old Miller said.

Though the previous gay bars, Dante’s and Barefoot, have long been closed, the Boom Boom Room remains as the legacy to Laguna’s gay scene.

Miller, who last visited the club two years ago, said nothing has changed since the Boom Boom Room’s earliest days.

O’Loughlin, who co-owns his club with James Marchese, bought the business in 2000. O’Loughlin said he is the fourth owner.

“I’ve been honored to be involved with it,” O’Loughlin said. “It’s a powerful thing to hear the stories about the place. It’s very symbolical to the gay community.”

“I know dozens of people who grew up in Orange County, and the Boom Boom Room was the first bar they went to,” Karger said. “It has always been a safe place to go if you’re gay.”

With a gay travel market estimated at $50 billion by Community Marketing Inc. of San Francisco, Karger hopes Udvar-Hazy will see it as an incentive for his new properties.

The Coast Inn, which is also operated by O’Loughlin and Marchese on the same property as the Boom Boom Room, markets specifically to gay clientele.

Down the road on Coast Highway, The Surf and Sand Resort calls itself gay-friendly, but does not market to gays.

Blaise Bartell, general manager and vice president of marketing for the Surf and Sand, said his gay clientele appears to have dwindled over the years.

“I see a lot more families and foreigners coming now. There’s been a lot of lift-off internationally from The OC and MTV (TV shows),” Bartell said.

Joel Herzer, owner of nearby restaurant Woody’s, said his clientele is mostly gay, but he wants to broaden his reach to the entire community.

“We only want nice people in here,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. Being gay is such a small part of someone’s personality.”

Herzer feels his business benefits from being close to the Boom Boom Room and is uncertain how he might survive without it.

“I hate to see them go,” Herzer said. “But if anyone can do something about it, Fred [Karger] can do it.”cpt.23-boom-2-CPhotoInfoVE1S7LNE20060623j18gxrnccpt.23-boom-1-CPhotoInfoVE1S7LNC20060623j18gvpnc(LA)Left, a view of Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room. Right, Fred Karger who is petitioning their closure.