ATLAS

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WASHINGTON BLADE
APRIL 17, 2008
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Lizard Lounge to reopen at venue with smoking area
Dance party comes off two-year hiatus

Lizard Lounge, the weekly Sunday night gay dance party that ended its eight-year run in April 2006, will reopen on May 4 in a new location at 14th and K Streets, N.W., according to its owner, D.C. gay nightlife advocate and event promoter Mark Lee.

Lee said Lizard Lounge will operate out of Lima Restaurant and Lounge at 1401 K Street, N.W., in he heart of the city’s newly emerging district for upscale lounges and nightclubs. Lee created a stir two years ago when he announced he was closing Lizard Lounge at its former location on Connecticut Avenue near Dupont Circle because the city’s new smoking ban would drive away too many customers and make it financially unfeasible to stay in business.

He said his new location at Lima includes a “covered outdoor lounge” where smoking is permitted.

“What distinguishes this operation is we will have an opportunity to accommodate our clients who smoke,” Lee said.

Owners and managers of the city’s existing gay bars and nightclubs said the smoking ban resulted in some loss of business but not enough to prevent them from continuing to operate. New gay bars, including Be Bar and Town, have opened since the smoking ban took effect.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 17, 2008
ATLAS ANNOUNCES LIZARD LOUNGE RE-OPENING ON SUNDAY, MAY 4, AFTER TWO-YEAR CLOSURE

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)?? Long-time nightclub producer and well-known local nightlife advocate Mark Lee announced that his special event production group is set to re-launch Lizard Lounge, the longest-running independent event promotion in Washington gay community history, beginning Sunday, May 4, following a two-year closure.

Lee, proprietor of ATLAS Events, also announced that the now-relocated weekly event, to be held at the popular nightlife venue Lima at 1401 K Street NW, will again offer dancing as well as lounge seating and bar areas on three levels, and will also provide patrons with the amenity of “plush seating in a comfortable all-climate alcohol-licensed and smoking-permitted covered outdoor lounge.”

The well-regarded and long-popular event closed in April 2006, following eight years of operation as one of the premiere lounge and dance party destinations in the nation’s capital. The widely publicized closure was in response to the controversial passage by the D.C. Council of a mandatory smoking ban imposed on the city’s bars, lounges, nightclubs, and restaurant bars, effective in January 2007. At the time, Lee said that the event could not sustain the anticipated revenue loss as a result of a total ban prohibiting all smoking at the event, particularly due to a smoking prevalence in the gay community nearly double that of the general population.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to again serve our community at this unique venue providing this unique accommodation, and are delighted to be able to offer our guests the hospitality which has long been our signature,” Lee said. “I remain humbled by the ongoing support of the many diverse segments of our community for so many years, and especially for the encouragement by both smoking and non-smoking patrons to find an appropriate location allowing for the personal preferences of all of our patrons at which to re-launch Lizard Lounge. That has been the most rewarding aspect of a labor of love since my first dance party event at a Washington nightclub twenty years ago.”

“The negative results of the mandatory smoking ban have been serious, sustained, and, ultimately, sad,” Lee stated. He added, however, “we do not desire to again debate the issue of this forced prohibition, recognizing that special interest groups won that battle by concocting a dizzying cocktail of misinformation, disputed junk science of the exaggerated health perils of so-called ‘second-hand’ smoke, and a breathtaking disregard for both personal freedom of choice and business independence.”

Lee had joined the overwhelming majority of local bar and restaurant service professionals, nightlife and entertainment venues, and hospitality industry associations in opposing approval of the law and testifying against the proposed legislation at numerous public hearings during three years of D.C. Council debate. Former Washington Mayor Anthony Williams refused to sign the smoking prohibition legislation, announcing his opposition due to the likely negative economic impact on small business establishments. Local news media reports, including an in-depth survey of the city’s gay bar and nightclub businesses by the Washington Blade, have indicated that many local nightlife venues have suffered decreases in patronage and sustained significant revenue losses as a result of the ban.

Lizard Lounge will again feature former Resident DJ Kostas, who will share the performance schedule with local DJ Luke Easley. Admission is free and restricted to those 21 years of age and older. The event will open each week at 8:00 p.m. and will offer special drink prices. Additional information is available online at www.ATLASevents.com.

ATLAS
ATLAS InfoLine?? 202 331 4422
info@ATLASevents.com
http://www.ATLASevents.com

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?

??????????????? “D.C. GAY BARS FEELING IMPACT OF
???????????????????? MANDATORY SMOKING BAN”

???????????? “WASHINGTON BLADE SURVEY REVEALS
??????????????? STEEP DROP IN REVENUE FOR SOME,
????? WHILE OTHERS RELUCTANT TO DISCUSS NEW LAW”

? “VENUE TO SEEK HARDSHIP WAIVER FROM SMOKING BAN”

?– Washington Blade, Top News Story,? Page One, Local News,? Friday, May 11, 2007
——————————
RE: “DC Gay Bars Feeling Impact of Smoking Ban”
????????? (Washington Blade)
Survey reveals steep drop in revenue for some, while others reluctant to discuss new law
Eagle to seek hardship waiver from smoking ban
http://washblade.com/2007/5-11/news/localnews/10546.cfm

By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, May 11, 2007

“Five of the nine D.C. gay bars, restaurants and nightclubs responding to an informal Washington Blade survey said they have experienced a decline in revenue and customers as a result of the city’s new smoking ban, which took effect Jan. 2. . . .

“Earlier this month, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which represents restaurants and bars, released the findings of its own survey, which showed more than 35 percent of those responding reported a decline in revenue since the smoking ban took effect. Its survey wasn’t limited to gay establishments. . . .

“‘My accountant’s eyes jumped wide open when he saw the numbers,’ [D.C. Eagle owner Bill] Capello said. ‘I had to cut payroll and cut back on the hours of work for the staff.’ . . .

“Joey Oldaker, general manager of the Dupont Circle establishments Apex nightclub and Omega bar, both owned by gay businessman Glen Thompson, said the two clubs each suffered a decline in patrons and revenue but not enough to make the clubs eligible for a waiver [requiring a loss of 15% of total gross revenue under Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposed regulations].

“‘We raised prices slightly to make up for some of the lost revenue,’ Oldaker said.

“‘Our biggest concern is the people who go outside to smoke. We’re nearly surrounded by condos and the noise created by the people outside smoking could create problems.’ . . . “

One of the establishments, the DIK Bar, located on 17th Street, N.W., was the only one of the gay establishments to report an increase in both customers and revenue. The Fireplace, a gay bar on P Street, N.W., reported a modest increase in customers and no change in its revenue.

Titan’s Ramrod, located on 14th Street, N.W., reported no change in the number of customers or revenue from the smoking ban.

Four establishments catering to a mostly gay clientele, including Annie’s Paramount Steak House, Be Bar and Halo, voluntarily opened or changed into non-smoking places before the city’s smoking ban began and said they have seen no changes in patronage or revenue since the ban took effect.

But another eight gay of a total of 23 establishments in the city catering to gays did not return calls inviting them to participate in the survey, a development that Washington gay nightlife advocate Mark Lee said is not surprising.

“The word out among insiders in the nightlife and hospitality industry across the city is almost everyone has had a drop in business because of this,” Lee said. “For PR reasons and for competitive, proprietary reasons, most establishments don’t want to talk about this publicly.”

Earlier this month, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which represents restaurants and bars, released the findings of its own survey, which showed more than 35 percent of those responding reported a decline in revenue since the smoking ban took effect. Its survey wasn’t limited to gay establishments.

Angela Bradbery, spokesperson for the smoking ban advocacy group Smokefree D.C., questioned the findings of the restaurant association survey, saying the association declined to disclose the number of businesses participating in the survey.

“Anecdotal evidence — it’s too early for any other data to be gathered — shows bars and restaurants are doing just fine,” she said.

Bill Capello, owner of the D.C. Eagle, one of the city’s oldest and most well known leather and country western bars catering to gays, disagrees.

“We have had the worst beginning of the year than ever before,” he said. “Business in February was off 35 percent from the year before.” He said revenue has been down about 25 percent each month since the ban took effect.

“My accountant’s eyes jumped wide open when he saw the numbers,” Capello said. “I had to cut payroll and cut back on the hours of work for the staff.”

He said he will “absolutely” apply for a hardship waiver under a provision of the smoking ban law that allows businesses to apply for a temporary waiver if revenue declines by 15 percent or more for three consecutive months compared to the previous year.

Managers or owners of the other gay establishments responding to the survey who reported declines in business said their declines were not as severe as the Eagle’s.

Joey Oldaker, general manager of the Dupont Circle establishments Apex nightclub and Omega bar, both owned by gay businessman Glen Thompson, said the two clubs each suffered a decline in patrons and revenue but not enough to make the clubs eligible for a waiver.

“We raised prices slightly to make up for some of the lost revenue,” Oldaker said.

“Our biggest concern is the people who go outside to smoke. We’re nearly surrounded by condos and the noise created by the people outside smoking could create problems.”

In past years, some neighborhood activists have challenged the liquor license renewal for Omega and Apex, claiming patrons were creating excessive noise. But in an unusual development, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission representing the area where the two clubs are located, which often protests liquor licenses, supported the two clubs, saying they were responsible neighbors in an area where residents and nightlife businesses are in close proximity.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Washington Blade Survey: Impact of Smoking Ban on D.C. Gay Bars, Nightclubs & Restaurants

Have you had a reduction, increase or the same amount of customers and revenue since the smoking ban began in January 2007?

Business Establishment? Customers?????? Revenue

Annie’s Restaurant (*)? —???????????? —
Apex??????????????????? REDUCTION?????? REDUCTION
Bachelor’s Mill???????? (no response)?? (no response)
Be Bar (*)????????????? —???????????? —
Club Chaos????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
Cobalt????????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
30 Degrees Lounge (*)?? —???????????? —
D.C. Eagle????????????? REDUCTION?????? REDUCTION
DIK Bar???????????????? INCREASE??????? INCREASE
Delta Elite???????????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
Fab Lounge????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
Fireplace?????????????????????? INCREASE??????? SAME
Fuego/Cada Vez????????? REDUCTION?????? REDUCTION
Green Lantern/Tool Shed (no response)?? (no response)
Halo (*)??????????????????????? —???????????? —
JR’s??????????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
Larry’s Lounge????????? (no response)?? (no response)
Omega?????????????????? REDUCTION?????? REDUCTION
Titan’s Ramrod????????? SAME??????????? SAME
Phase 1???????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
Penn 12???????????????? (no response)?? (no response)
1409 Playbill Cafe????????????? REDUCTION?????? REDUCTION
Remington’s???????????? SAME??????????? SAME

(*) Opened as a non-smoking establishment or became a non-smoking establishment voluntarily before the city-imposed smoking ban took effect.
ATLAS InfoLine?? 202 331 4422
info@ATLASevents.com
http://www.ATLASevents.com

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Filling the void
New bar Penn 12 is set on becoming a go-to spot for lesbian nightlife
January 19, 2007
By ZACK ROSEN
Larger than many bars in the area, Penn 12’s layout allows for separate seating, dancing and patio areas that will not leave its patrons feeling boxed in. As an added bonus, the covered patio allows both smoking and drinking, so those wanting to take a cigarette break will not have to unceremoniously chug their beers first.
Read More

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Goodbye, Nation. Hello, H St. NE.

By Fritz Hahn
Special to The Washington Post
December 29, 2006

It has been a busy year on the Washington area night life beat, full of new lounges, dance clubs and places to catch bands. But looking back at 2006, what really stands out are the places we lost.

The closing of Nation, the vast warehouse-like space that hosted concerts by the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Rage Against the Machine, Fatboy Slim, Pet Shop Boys and Paul Oakenfold, had been in the cards since 2004, but it was still hard for fans of the weekly Alchemy, Cubik and Velvet Nation dance nights to accept that the former factory was to be torn down to make way for an office building.

Since Nation’s doors were finally locked in July, the club scene has taken a hit. The groundbreaking Buzzlife crew, responsible for bringing such top-drawer DJs as Tiesto and Sasha and Digweed to Buzz and Cubik, still hasn’t found a new home, though promoters have been hosting events at Avenue, a nightclub near Mount Vernon Square. Also in limbo is Velvet Nation, the popular gay dance party that owned Saturday nights. Founder Ed Bailey has been looking for a space but hasn’t found the right one.

Nearby, a decades-old stretch of gay nightspots, strip clubs, cabarets and bathhouses was forced to close to make room for the new Washington Nationals stadium. Ziegfield’s, the Edge, Wet, Secrets and others are gone, and although the D.C. Council has promised to help them find new locations, their futures are in doubt. Wet, for example, has tried to move to several spots in the District, but each time, residents and neighborhood associations have rebuffed the idea of a gay nightclub in their back yards.

In late March, Lulu’s and Polly Esther’s suddenly closed, robbing the city of two large dance floors where the tunes leaned toward ’80s hits and Top 40 instead of house and electro. Known as an “anything goes” kind of spot where college students and young people wore (and “earned”) Mardi Gras beads every weekend, Lulu’s was a nonstop spring break party, even on holidays. Weeks before it closed, there was a line around the block at 6 a.m. for the annual “Kegs and Eggs” St. Patrick’s Day breakfast party. Lulu’s didn’t fall victim to declining crowds but to landlords who decided to convert the club (and the neighboring Blackie’s restaurant) into retail space.

Multiple floors with pounding ’70s and ’80s hits made Polly Esther’s one of the most popular clubs in town for a few years in the ’90s. Although the guilty-pleasure tunes weren’t drawing crowds as they did a decade ago, the neon-lighted building never lost popularity with bachelorette parties. The adjacent Tequila Beach, carved out of the Polly Esther’s space a few years back, was an Ocean City nightclub transplanted to Washington — I’d never seen a woman in a bikini selling beers out of a cooler in a downtown club before. Love them or hate them, both establishments were unlucky enough to be on a block that’s being razed to make room for a new high-rise.

Fans of live music were also hurting. The Half Moon BBQ, a staple for local rockabilly, roots and country performers, closed its doors when Silver Spring’s booming real estate market became more profitable than serving barbecue sandwiches and Bill Kirchen concerts. In Adams Morgan, tiny Staccato, which welcomed alt-rock bands, singer-songwriters, comedians and poets to its stage, left 18th Street in November. The bar’s owners are opening a new space in Columbia Heights in 2007.

Okay, enough of the bad news. There was plenty to be happy about in 2006.

Washington’s night life continued its shift away from the Adams Morgan-Dupont-Georgetown axis, and nowhere was this more evident than on H Street NE, where the arrival of several new bars had club hoppers trying to figure out the easiest way to get to 15th and H streets.

Nightlife impresario Joe Englert opened three more bars on the strip this year, following the success he has had with the low-key Argonaut tavern. The Rock and Roll Hotel is the gem of the bunch, a 400-person venue that fits the bigger-than-DC9-but-smaller-than-the-Black-Cat hole on D.C.’s live-music circuit. Many of the city’s better rock bands took the stage there this year, including Shortstack, the Hard Tomorrows and the Washington Social Club, though the club has also had packed and sweaty DJ nights hosted by Buzz’s Scott Henry, DJ Spooky, the Rapture’s Matty Safer and such buzz bands as the Brazilian Girls and ?Forward, Russia! Upstairs, “suites” strewn with vintage furniture are perfect for lounging.

Down the block, the Palace of Wonders has walls lined with dime-store freaks (preserved eight-legged goats, the Ringling Bros.’ “unicorn,” a life-size wax model of the Elephant Man) and a calendar filled with burlesque dancers, sword swallowers, sideshow carnies and hot-dog-eating contests. Neighboring club the Red & the Black has a more intimate feel, since the concert room can hold only about 100 people, but it has been host to interesting residencies by local artists, including Luke Brindley.

More than any one bar, though, all the establishments that have arrived on H Street in the past two years have begun to find their footing, making the area a true weekend destination. (The shuttle service to U nion Station on weekends is a great help but needs to expand.) A few more places are set to open, and although the neighborhood can be sketchy at night, its bars and theaters — including the massive Atlas Performing Arts Center, which opened last month — mean that H Street is a neighborhood that rewards exploration.

Just when I thought the entertainment district around 18th and M streets NW couldn’t get more crowded, two new nightspots joined perennial favorites Eighteenth Street Lounge, Five and Dragonfly on that very busy stretch.

Fly opened in May with a ton of buzz, as the gorgeous airplane-themed lounge was featured in Vibe and Details before the first martini could be shaken. The tiny basement room emphasizes pricey bottle service and has little space for walk-ins, leading to looooong lines outside the velvet ropes. The new club Play, meanwhile, kept the dress codes and fuss to a minimum, and the lively one-room party attracted the likes of actor Jamie Foxx, Redskins players and bachelorette groups.

Of course, cool bars opened all over Washington this year. Be Bar arrived in Shaw after a protracted struggle with local churches, which argued that a gay-owned lounge would be bad for the neighborhood. (Fans of candy-flavored martinis and DJs might disagree.) Petworth got a cool ’20s-themed saloon called Temperance Hall. U Street swapped the troubled U-Turn bar for a new neighborhood hangout called Solly’s.

Silver Spring’s revival continued with the addition of more after-dark destinations, including Gallery, a two-level restaurant and nightclub whose Summer Sessions brought some of the biggest names in house music to the indoor-outdoor party and kept crowds dancing until 4 a.m.

There was plenty of action beyond the Beltway, too. A smoke-free sports bar called Beef O’Brady’s opened in Ashburn. Canada’s Firkin chain brought a (loosely) British pub called the Firkin & Hound to South Riding. Kirkpatrick’s Irish Pub, a pleasant neighborhood hangout in Ashburn, expanded to a second location in Haymarket, sticking with its original formula of live music and weekly Texas Hold ‘Em poker.

The guys behind Herndon’s Ned Devine’s Irish pub had a particularly busy year. On New Year’s Eve, they opened a vast, Epcot-like bar and dance club in Sterling called Ned Devine’s Irish Village, which replicates a number of real-life watering holes in Dublin and Galway. A few months later, another Ned Devine’s welcomed pub crawlers in Centreville.

Notice how many of those places are emphasizing the Guinness and Gaelic spirit? For some reason, there was a mini explosion on the Celtic scene in 2006. Ri-Ra opened in an attractive two-level space on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood, joining Ireland’s Four Courts, Kitty O’Shea’s and O’Sullivans (formerly known as Molly Malone’s). Daniel O’Connell’s arrived in Old Town Alexandria, McGinty’s brought traditional music to Silver Spring and Andrew Duffy, formerly of Ireland’s Four Provinces, opened his own neighborhood tavern, Duffy’s, a stone’s throw from the 9:30 club. (It’s perfect for pre-concert Guinness and darts.)

One of the most interesting venues to open anywhere this year was PX, a retro hideaway that, in true speak-easy fashion, has no sign or phone. Visitors to the bar, above Eamonn’s in Old Town, have to look for a single blue light bulb and then ring a bell for admission. Once inside, customers are greeted by a stunning, couch-filled setup that resembles a set from one of the “Thin Man” movies. The libations are period-appropriate, too, thanks to cocktail wizard Todd Thrasher of Restaurant Eve, though he puts his own memorable, modern twists on such classics as the Gibson, the Sazerac and the Moscow Mule. Just arrive early — the spot holds only 45 — and dress to impress. (That means jackets, guys.) PX wasn’t the only place competing for my cocktail dollars this year. Urbana, in Northwest Washington’s new Hotel Palomar, may not be a foodie destination, but I enjoyed finding seats in the dimly lighted lounge and exploring a drink menu crafted by San Francisco mix master Jacques Bezuidenhout. There are some interesting choices, but, for my money, Urbana made the best straight-up martini I tasted all year: Plymouth gin and Noilly Pratt vermouth in a perfect ratio.

Beer aficionados welcomed Birreria Paradiso, a wonderland of esoteric Belgian ales, German lagers and California microbrews located beneath Georgetown’s Pizzeria Paradiso restaurant. Sixteen drafts and about 80 bottles have something for everyone: The English-style hand pump draws fans of real ales, and the themed beer flights are perfect for newbies. Excitement was tempered by the departure of Birreria founder Thor Cheston, who moved to Philadelphia last month to open his own bar. Also making waves was Rustico, which brought almost 30 taps and 250 bottles to Alexandria to go along with its tasty pizza.

Leesburg’s Thoroughbreds brew pub closed, but it was replaced earlier this month by a new restaurant and bar called Vintage 50. At the helm is the well-respected brewer Bill Madden, late of Founders and Capitol City Brewing Co.

As 2007 starts, there are exciting projects in the works — Love owner Marc Barnes has plans for a four-story restaurant and nightclub on 14th Street NW across from Franklin Square, and the owners of Fur are working on a new space called Lotus Lounge — but most of the industry people I talk to are worried about the smoking ban, which, as you’ve no doubt heard, starts Tuesday. Seeing how bar and club owners deal with the ban and its related issues (crowds making noise outside, for example) will be the first real story of the year.

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ATLAS Shrugs
As the city’s smoking ban approaches, Mark Lee brings 16 years of holiday-weekend parties to an end
by Yusef Najafi
Published on 10/26/2006

Mark Lee is not the bogeyman. He is not lurking around the district’s many alleys handing out cigarettes to underage teens. But Lee says his opposition to Washington, D.C.’s mandatory smoking ban, which prohibits smoking in all district businesses beginning Jan. 1, 2007, makes the well-known nightlife promoter one of the most misunderstood men in Washington.

”To listen to smoking prohibition groups, you would think I was carrying dead bodies out in trash bags along with the empty beer bottles to throw away at the end of the night,” says Lee. In reality, Lee does not disagree with health officials who promote non-smoking or healthy lifestyles. He is not an advocate for smoking. But Lee is opposed to the approach that smoking prohibition groups in Washington have taken in enforcing a mandatory smoking ban.

”There’s a lot of hype around the so-called ‘health and safety issue,”’ he says. ”But the stockholders, business manager operators, service professionals, entertainers, musicians, DJs and the vastly overwhelming number of actual patrons in this discussion know that one size doesn’t fit all, and the [inability] of [health groups] to educate and persuade more people to stop smoking does not justify forcing us to stop smoking by social engineering.”

In April, Lee reacted to D.C.’s smoking ban, which at the time was enforced on indoor workplaces and the dining areas of restaurants, by shutting down his popular weekly party, Lizard Lounge.

Come January, the smoking ban extends to nightclubs, bars and the bar areas of restaurants. Lee says he does not want to wait until then to find out what he already knows: that ATLAS, his popular 16-year-old series of parties held on Sundays before Monday holidays, will not stay financially afloat with the smoking ban in place.

”We did not feel obligated to prove that we are right by losing money and having our business fail in public,” he says. ”It was also important for us to honor and respect the incredible and humbling loyalty and support of our community, by departing from our business with as much dignity as that great gift from our community called for.”

Lee dismisses claims that smoking prohibition laws do not have a harmful impact on businesses.

”The smoking prohibition groups, which are well-funded, have been successful with creating a mythology that mandatory smoking bans do not have a negative economic impact on bar and nightclub businesses,” Lee says. ”Besides being preposterous, it is simply untrue.”

”Preposterous” is the same word Angela Bradbery, co-founder of Smokefree DC, uses in response to Lee’s assessment of the city’s ”well-funded” smoking prohibition groups.

”We are not well-funded at all,” Bradbery says. ”Smokefree DC is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization.” Bradbery, who has kept her day job in media relations at Public Citizen, a public-interest watchdog organization, co-founded Smokefree DC about five years ago.

In response to the smoking ban’s impact on nightlife businesses, Kathleen DeBold, executive director of the Mautner Project says, ”Good health is good business.”

”All of the studies on other cities that have done it, including New York, Boston and the whole state of California show that bar and restaurant revenues are up,” she says.

Henia Handler, co-chair of the National Coalition for LGBT Health, says that recent studies on smoking have confirmed that there’s approximately a 40 percent higher rate of smoking in the gay community.

That number is why Lee voices concern for gay businesses that he fears will face financial difficulties once the ban is implemented.

”Naturally, the impact on gay business would be more significant. Some are hurt more than others and for some it’s catastrophic.”

Owners of gay establishments who are not anticipating a catastrophic financial letdown include Mike Watson of the already smoke-free Be Bar.

”Nightlife is evolving to reflect people’s lifestyles,” Watson says. ”Many individuals are choosing to become healthier…. Regardless of whether or not the smoking ban would have taken place or not, we would have opened smoke-free. We’ve seen the success of Halo and personally, I think it promotes a healthier, safer venue.”

Watson is not worried about his establishment losing originality, once the ban is in affect for all of D.C.’s bars and nightclubs.

”Most people will see us as pioneers in that respect, and it will add to the overall acceptance of a smoke-free environment,” he says. ”It also makes it easier to police the environment, because a lot of times people come into a venue not knowing that it is a smoke-free.”

Despite how the smoking ban changes the district’s nightlife, ATLAS will be noticeably missing. Its closing has taken an emotional toll on its founder.

”It’s a big change for me,” Lee says. ”It’s a very difficult transition.”

The native of Indianapolis has shifted through many transitions throughout his career. But his talent as an event planner was evident even in his youth. At the age of 6, Lee says, he promoted and hosted a carnival.

”I charged a quarter for admission,” he says. ”I even printed and promoted flyers, so I suppose in some ways that predicted my chance to continue to do events later on in my life.”

It wasn’t until August 1987 that Lee planned a friend’s birthday at the then-popular Dakota nightclub in Adams Morgan, and attracted hundreds of gay men to the event. It’s a forte that has lasted for nearly two decades.

”I’ve always had a great time, producing events in a city that often doesn’t allow itself to have fun,” Lee says. ”I’ve had to remind people to have fun, and that there is more to life than the next political challenge. I will miss that.”

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Release: Thursday, October 19, 2006
Contact: ATLAS InfoLine 202-331-4422
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

ATLAS SAYS ‘THANK YOU’ TO THE WASHINGTON AREA
LGBT COMMUNITY FOR 16 YEARS OF SUPPORT
IN PROMINENT PUBLICATION PRINT ADS
AS GROUP CEASES NIGHTLIFE EVENT PRODUCTION
DUE TO LOOMING 2007 D.C. MANDATORY SMOKING BAN

_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

The longstanding D.C. event production group ATLAS,
producer of popular nightlife venues and special events
since launching in October 1990, has announced that it
will run prominent full-page print advertisements in both
local gay community news publications to thank the
Washington metropolitan and regional area LGBT
community for its support over the past 16 years.
ATLAS will run the print ad announcements as the
well-known local community small business enterprise
ceases all event production operations in response to
the impending forced imposition of a controversial
mandatory smoking ban at all nightlife and hospitality
establishments in the nation’s capital beginning in
January 2007, according to proprietor Mark Lee.

This announcement by ATLAS follows the prior closing
of the group’s successful and well-regarded eight-year
Lizard Lounge weekly event series in early April at the
time the 2007 D.C. smoking ban officially became law.
The widely-reported closure brought to an end the
longest-running independent nightlife event promotion
in Washington gay history. The mandatory smoking ban,
which D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) subsequently
refused to sign, was approved by the D.C. Council
following lengthy and rancorous debate earlier this
year on January 4.

ATLAS had recently produced and hosted a series of
previously-announced holiday weekend nightclub venue
dance parties following the closing of Lizard Lounge
and preceding the delayed implementation of the ban,
including the ATLAS 16th Anniversary Celebration held
earlier this month.

The ATLAS print ad announcement, to be published
beginning this week, is available for advance review
on the ATLAS web site at the following direct link.
_____________________________________________

* TO VIEW THE ANNOUNCEMENT:
http://www.ATLASevents.com/SpecialAnnouncement
_____________________________________________

The online announcement also links to the previous
ATLAS news release announcing the prior closing of
Lizard Lounge due to the now-looming imposition of
the total and mandatory smoking ban legislation at
all D.C. nightclubs, bars, lounges, and the bar areas
of restaurants. The ATLAS news release is available
on the ATLAS web site at the following direct link.
_____________________________________________

* FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT:
http://www.ATLASevents.com/LizardLoungeClosing
_____________________________________________

The ATLAS print ads will appear beginning this week
in the October 19 edition of Metro Weekly magazine
and again in the following week’s October 27 edition
of the Washington Blade newspaper.

Read http://www.ATLASevents.com

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Special Events
Nightclub Events
Community Fundraising Events
Serial Dance Parties
Fun Since 1990

And a leading advocacy voice defending community nightlife

ATLAS InfoLine 202 331 4422
http://www.atlasevents.com/
info@ATLASevents.com
Mailing Address:
ATLAS, 1445 P Street NW, No 601, Washington, DC 20005-1993

GET INTO ORBIT

* * * D.C. NIGHTLIFE – SHAME and BLAME * * *
View our . . .
D.C. NIGHTLIFE HALL OF SHAME
. . . online on the ATLAS web site at the following link:
http://www.ATLASevents.com/NightlifeHallOfShame

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