Joe CapozziAfter a $2.5 million makeover, H.G. Roosters on Belvedere Road plans grand reopening on fifth anniversary of the fire that temporarily shut it down.
Like a real-life Phoenix rising from the ashes, H.G. Roosters is about to open again, five years to the day after a devastating fire nearly destroyed the popular West Palm Beach gay bar.
The grand reopening, planned for May 19 at the bar at 823 Belvedere Road, is just the start of a larger celebration honoring the rebirth of Roosters, a safe space and cherished home for the LGBTQ community in Palm Beach County and beyond since 1984.
In June, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County will host a Pride Month exhibit charting the bar’s history, from the building’s construction in the 1930s to the many gay establishments that called it home over the decades.
But the party kicks off next week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30 pm unveiling the new H.G. Roosters and its $2.5 million makeover — from a lighted cristallo quartzite bartop and expanded seating to a larger kitchen and a new fire suppression system.
The bar’s history is celebrated on a wall collage and on a new drink menu with cocktails such as the “Harts Desire” (an old-fashioned paying homage to Harts Nightclub in the late 1930s), “My Apartment” (a Bombay Sapphire gin concoction named after a 1960s lesbian bar) and the “Heidi and Greta” (a rum drink toasting the drag queens who put the “H.G.” in Roosters).
“We’re very proud of it. People are going to be really blown away when they walk in and see this, especially our regular customers,’’ Roosters owner A.J. Wasson said.
Flames during COVID
It’s a day Wasson could not have imagined when he arrived at Roosters in the early morning of May 19, 2020, to see flames shooting from the building.
At the time, bars and restaurants had been closed for two months because of COVID. Roosters kept its employees on the payroll during the shutdown by allowing them to clean the bar and make minor repairs. To free up money to pay employee salaries, Wasson let the building’s property insurance lapse.
The fire resulted from rags that spontaneously combusted after being used to refinish wood furniture with linseed oil.
Although the damage was extensive, Wasson said he was touched by the outpouring of support from the community. More than $75,000 was donated for rebuilding efforts, including a $9,000 gift from the West Palm Beach firefighters union.
Until the fire, Wasson said, “I knew how much we loved our customers. I just didn’t know how much they loved us back.’’
Wasson said the city of West Palm Beach plans to chip in $166,000 in economic development money.
‘We see you, we embrace you’
A year after the fire, the City Commission designated Roosters a historic site, recognizing the establishment’s contributions to the community, including its role when it opened in 1984 in providing housing, food and comfort to those afflicted with AIDS.
“For me, it was like the city saying, ‘We see you, we embrace you. Your history is our history,’’’ he said.
“We are a bar that has historically been for LGBTQ people but we are a community bar. For people in Flamingo Park, it’s their neighborhood bar. They don’t care if it’s gay, straight or whatever, it’s their community bar. That’s what kept us going.’’
But rebuilding was not easy. During interior demolition, numerous structural deficiencies were identified, requiring “augmented structural reinforcements” and significant changes to building plans, Wasson said.
Reconstruction started in November 2022. Roosters received its certificate of occupancy last week.
Rebuilding “was a mission. We were a 90-year-old building that was ravaged by fire,’’ he said. “I am not a spiritual person but it seemed like some little manna from heaven would come by and keep us going.’’
Guests at the reopening ceremony will welcome the new Roosters with a champagne toast. West Palm Beach City Commissioner Christina Lambert, who is running for mayor, will officiate.
“Roosters has held us through heartbreak and hardship, witnessed the spark of new love and given us a place to grieve our losses and celebrate our victories. Its walls carry our laughter, our tears and our history. To see its doors open again is to feel a piece of ourselves come home,” said Julie Seaver, CEO of Compass, a community center for the LGTBQ community.
Wasson joked that he probably won’t be able to offer remarks because he expects he’ll be overcome with emotion.
“It’s been a very long road to get to this point, but we could not be more thrilled to welcome our longtime customers and new friends home,’’ he said. “We are very proud of what we have rebuilt and look forward to once again being a part of the thriving West Palm Beach community.”
History panel on gay bars
On June 4, Roosters will be celebrated again, this time at a reception and panel discussion as part of the Pride Month exhibition at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum in downtown West Palm Beach.
The reception starts at 5:30 on the museum’s third floor. Wasson, Seaver and Roosters co-owner Randy Christensen will discuss the role of Roosters and other gay bars as vital centers of community support before the creation of institutions such as the Compass Community Center.
These spaces served as safe havens and social hubs for the gay community, providing a network of solidarity and connection throughout Palm Beach County, they said.
“This event will delve into the significance of these spaces, the history of LGBTQIA+ support in the area, and the lasting impact Roosters has had on fostering community in Palm Beach County,’’ said Erica Grant, the historical society’s collections curator.
“AJ and Randy have done exceptional work uncovering the building’s history, documenting its various iterations and tracing its origins back to its construction in the 1930s,” she said.
If you go:
H.G. Roosters grand reopening
5:30 pm Monday, May 19, at the bar, 823 Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach.
Rooster’s Pride Month reception/panel discussion
5:30 pm June 4 at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, 300 N. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach.
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. He publishes the Lake Worth Beach Independent on Substack, covering the town where he lives.
