DC Eagle—-among the city’s oldest gay bars and lovingly known for it leather daddies and doorless bathrooms—-announced on its website that it will postpone its scheduled Nov. 22 reopening date. The announcement did not indicate when it will reopen.

The bar closed its longtime digs in Mount Vernon Square in January to make room for an office building. DC Eagle subsequently made headlines when it decided to move east of the river to a large warehouse on 3701 Benning Road NE. The owners of DC Eagle, Ted Clements and Peter Lloyd, also plan to open a cigar bar in that same building. The community response in Ward 7 to  its newest resident has been largely positive.

“It is with much regret that we announce the DC Eagle will not be open as planned for our Anniversary weekend November 22,” this week’s announcement read. “We are diligently working to finish the new DC Eagle and hope to announce its grand reopening soon.”

The Blade reports that the opening has been delayed because construction is incomplete and DC Eagle still needs to receive an occupancy permit from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which means it can’t yet receive final approval of its liquor license.

“There are a number of outstanding documents that must still be submitted in order for the application to be deemed complete and submitted to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for final consideration,” Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration spokeswoman Jessie Cornelius wrote in a Nov. 12 email to the Blade.

According to the Blade, Celia Properties Limited Partnership, which owns a shopping center located next to DC Eagle, filed suit in October with the D.C. Court of Appeals trying to protest the bar’s liquor license. (Celia Properties wants to the court to overturn the ABC Board’s decision to reject its earlier protest on technical grounds.) The company’s lawyer says its concerns over DC Eagle have nothing to do with the fact that it’s a gay bar, but rather the potential parking mess and pedestrian safety hazards an establishment of that size could pose.

The ABC Board has ruled in favor of DC Eagle and against Celia Properties on at least three prior occasions, the Blade reports. The local Advisory Neighborhood Commission also supports the bar.

The Eagle’s co-owners did not comment to the Blade. 

Photo by Darrow Montgomery