Pride on Skinner Street, known for it’s bars, night clubs, and at times dancers of various varieties. (Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7FM)

The double doors of what use to be 70 Below, a gay bar in the 2000s. (Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7FM)

Imagine, it’s the mid 2000s and it’s midnight. You’re lying awake in your bed having just reconciled with that part of you that you never knew you’d be reconciling with this late at night. So to deal with it you make your way to Nanaimo’s downtown. You walk down and behind the Dorscherter Hotel and to the club of 70 Below. Located where Embers Wine & Charcuterie Cellar is today.

Inside you’re met with friendly and welcoming faces. Queer faces.

“There was cages for people to dance in and go-go dancers, and there was all of this queer art on the walls and funky colors and touches of metallic and neon lights and these castings of, you know, chests and body parts and things, you know, different art pieces on. It was really cool,” said Lauren Semple, president of Nanaimo’s Pride society and someone who used to visit 70 Below.

Her first visit of 70 below was for her 19th birthday.

“I think it was my 19th birthday. My friends and I went to 70 Below to celebrate. And there were photos of me in this, fabulous party dress outside of 70 after, and we had run across the street and jumped into the fountain that was running at Pioneer Park.”

70 Below was one of Nanaimo’s main Queer bars. It was categorized as being a place where people could be themselves and where anyone was welcome.

Rick Meyers, a resident of Nanaimo was a patron of 70 Below.

“There was a top entrance, um, from front or from up above the hill and then there was one at the bottom entrance, so you could feel safe going in, in case someone did know and did see what you were doing,” said Meyers. “There was a fella named George, he was the main bartender there, and at that time, a true ally to gay people. And, um, I think that's what made us all feel so safe to go there in the first place.”

Meyer’s saw the space go through several iterations through the 90s, first as Blackbeards, later Neighbours and finally 70 Below. Meyers also performs under the drag alias Vikki Smudge and is a prominent voice in the Nanaimo queer community and a wealth of knowledge on queer history in town.

The bar closed on February 25th of 2008 to the disappointment of many within the community. Xtra Magazine, a queer focused magazine wrote about the closure, quote “the staff at 70 Below in Nanaimo came to work to find the doors boarded up, and the locks changed,” unquote.

The magazine also wrote about how this came to be after disputes with the Best Western Dorchester Hotel that was located above the bar.

Level 2 was for a brief period of time a nightclub aimed at queer people, as well as their friends. This changed over time. (Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7FM)

After the closure of 70 Below the community didn’t see another queer bar downtown until 2009 with the opening of Level 2 above the Modern Café. Originally pegged as a bar centred around queer people and their friends, that sentiment eventually fizzled out, becoming a more run-of-the-mill night club.

The loss of queer-centred nightlife and spaces is something the community feels.

“I think we've definitely gained a lot of access and connection opportunities with, with the internet and like with technology, but I think there's something kinda grassroots and uniquely, I don't know, it's special. Something that's very special about sitting down with someone in community, which was what kinda 70 Below was for me, was that opportunity to meet people that were living openly as, you know, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender folks, uh, and talk to them and, and kind of just get a vibe for what their lives were like and what their experience was like,” said Semple. “Sometimes you just need someone to tell you it's gonna be okay, and I think that like a, a queer bar, a cafe, or like a gay-centric space can provide that, you know, at more times of the day and in more accessible ways.”

Meyers also commented on this.

“That's exactly what I think is missing. The Pride team is doing a great job and they're looking at Halloween, they're looking at, you know, New Year's Eve on those special times where to bring people together. But, you know, the third Tuesday of September and you wanna just sit down and, and chat with someone, where do you go? There's nothing's planned.”

It’s clear to see that even with the efforts of the Nanaimo Pride Society to create events for queer folk year round, there is still a yearning for areas like 70 Below and Level 2.

However, this may not be the end of queer bars or late night spaces in Nanaimo. Meyers explains.

“The new one I think that I feel super safe in is the Nanaimo Bar, which is also downtown. And I think it's the, it's, again, it's that ally, that owner, Sonia, who makes everyone feel so welcome.”

The Vault Cafe in downtown Nanaimo has also emerged as a queer friendly and welcoming place to go to, have a meal and enjoy a show. But some may not consider this to be like the queer-centred bars of the past that would be open until the wee hours of the night. However, even with a lack of dedicated space, the queer community has taken it upon themselves to create events allowing for more connection and ease in meeting new queer folk.

Meyers spoke on something a friend of his has put together for gay men within the community.

“A friend of mine put together a group of, uh, men, older men, and we have brunch every other Sunday at a restaurant in town, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger because I think people still do wanna feel their community,” he said with a pause. “Besides Grindr.”

Semple addressed some of the other options that may be available for folks as well.

“In lieu of other opportunities, people are planning their own pride parties and their own, um, houseboat cruises and their own camp outs and their own sports tournaments. And it goes so far beyond just drag shows and, and club nights. It's, uh, it's into recreation and, and, you know, leisure and hobbies and, um, we have queer book clubs and queer poetry groups and, uh, yeah, things, uh, tons of things popping up all over the place.”

Perhaps as the desire for queer night life swells, we may see a queer bar surface in Nanaimo once again.

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