A popular downtown bar is now closed for day-to-day business.
Rendezvous, a South Franklin Street bar, is closed for daily business for the foreseeable future but open for monthly drag shows, said former bar manager Asher Rohan. The closure was effective as of Sunday.
When reached by phone, Rohan declined to comment on a reason for the closure, but said more information would be forthcoming later this week. When asked if the hangup was due to legal or paperwork concerns, Rohan answered with an all-inclusive yes.
There was no signage outside Rendezvous nor a social media post indicating the closure.
Rohan and Michael Friend began co-managing the bar this summer, and at that time told the Empire they plan to eventually formally own the bar. The transfer never formally happened.
Rohan and Friend oversaw a remodelling of the space that included removing a pool table and giving the front door a colorful makeover.
[Rendezvous has new management]
Deborah Percy and Erik Emert are listed as the owners of the bar in the 2018 business corporation biennial report.The next biennial report is due Jan. 2, 2020, according to documents available through the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development website.
Percy did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article.
The Rendezvous is known for being the site of monthly drag shows, and that tradition continued under new management. A Dec. 31 event in honor of Stonewall 50 dubbed New Queer’s Eve is still scheduled to take place at the bar.
That arrangement is similar to the Rockwell Ballroom, which is closed, but has been the site of events in recent years.
In recent months, regular happenings at Rendevous included a fem-only open stage night known as GRLZ.
Dana Herndon, one of the event’s organizers, said she’s optimistic the closing isn’t a death knell for GRLZ, but the event will need to find a new home.
“GRLZ will go on, we’re just going to have to find another venue for it,” Herndon said.
• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt
