by tim parks –
Much like the mythical phoenix and its propensity to rise from the ashes, Club San Diego reopened its doors on October 25 after a fire forced them to close in May. And this uncanny ability to maintain its presence on Fourth Avenue for 37 years — after experiencing another fire in the early 2000s, enduring the advent of hookup apps and surviving as the only bathhouse left in San Diego — is certainly a testament to its staying power.
General Manager Jerry Lyon is subscribed to lead the charge in making sure that this component of our gay history in San Diego isn’t erased. He follows in the footsteps of former and present owners, Darl Edwards and Omar Lowry, in providing an environment where men can let it all hang out. But quite a few modifications are coming down the pipeline, which was certainly evidenced by a recent eye-catching exterior paint job, a harbinger of things to come.
The Rage Monthly spoke with Club San Diego’s Marc Birou about the transformations coming to 3955 Fourth Avenue, starting with an entirely new staff.
“We have a whole new crew,” he said. “They’re young and bright; college degrees, master’s degrees, it’s amazing.”
However, this is just a small part of the larger picture for what will be occurring at Club San Diego, which also includes erasing some of the stigma associated with visiting a bathhouse.
“There’s the old school of thought that bathhouses are seedy places that you don’t want anyone to know that you go to and you sneak in. We told Omar that we wanted to get away from that, because the younger generation isn’t so weirded out about sex,” he said. “And we wanted to go after the European model, which is more that it’s like a spa, and it’s a place you can go to and there’s things to do there and events. And you may or may not have sex, and that may or may not be why you went there.”
“And we wanted to go after the European model, which is more that it’s like a spa, and it’s a place you can go to and there’s things to do there and events. And you may or may not have sex, and that may or may not be why you went there.”
– Marc Birou
“The colors are brighter, if you noticed outside, we painted it really bright; that was to get everybody’s attention. And now that we have your attention, we’ve toned it down a bit and just repainted it gray and navy blue. We’re going to do a façade in the front. As far as inside, the colors are also brighter.”
And with its reopening, Club San Diego is looking to keep its last-bastion status intact, as well as taking things to the next level, Birou said.
“We have a room called The Emperor Room, which looks like it’s fit for an Emperor, for eight of your favorite people that want to have fun together,” he said. “And there’s a Dungeon Room that has a few things that a dungeon would, like a sex bench and a sling. And there’s a room called The Reality Room, which is if you want to be watched or you like watching. It has cameras that go outside into the hall and windows where people can watch.”
Looking to the future with a proven business model that has made them a Hillcrest fixture for decades and a new slogan of: “A health club where men can enjoy and connect with other men in a safe environment permitting nudity, fantasy and feelings to be explored. Make a friend for an hour or a lifetime,” there is another component in keeping things afloat by hosting different nights that incorporate the different facets within our world.
“We are going to have a Bear Night, Fantasy Fridays, a pup play leather night called Best in Show in November and will be hosting CumUnion events,” Birou said. “And we’re thinking about having a Trans Night, so we’re going to reach out to the trans community and see what we can do in order to accommodate them. We’re also reaching out to the college community to see what we can do to entice them to come in.”
“We’ve never done things like that before; we’re just looking for different activities, just to make it more of a community place, where guys can be around like-minded guys, who happen to be naked. So instead of just being a hidden something that everybody’s ashamed of, we want ourselves out there.”
Club San Diego is located at 3955 Fourth Avenue in Hillcrest. clubsandiego.com