Zoogie's

Longhorn advertisement from the 1980 Twin Cities Pride Guide. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

The first building to fall during urban renewal in the Gateway District sat amid a confluence of queer history; the Hotel Vendome existed next door to the Hotel Andrews, ½ block from the Gay 90s Complex and the Brass Rail Bar, three blocks from the Dugout Bar, and four from the State Bar.(1) Remarkably, there is little indication that the ill-fated hotel had any queer significance. Instead, its urban renewal replacement housed an important queer use—this fact would have shocked renewal proponents in the 1960s. This is because one would not expect the Fifth Street Parking garage to provide any sort of space for queer people. The first level of the parking facility included a sizeable space for a commercial venture, and this space eventually became home to the Longhorn Music Hall.

The music venue switched from jazz to rock and punk circa 1979,(2) and this change encouraged then-new bands to visit the Twin Cities—including Elvis Costello, the Talking Heads, and the Police.(3) The infamous queer punk group Hüsker Dü played several of their first shows at the music hall in 1979 and 1980—in part, their patronage of the music venue may be attributable to a well-placed advertisement by the Longhorn in Twin Cities Pride Guides during those years. (4)

The Longhorn changed its name to Zoogie’s in 1981—this changed also marked the establishment’s short-lived status as a gay bar. It instantly became a significant first—Zoogies was the first gay bar in Minneapolis to offer unobstructed windows that looked out on the street. Initially, patrons feared that homophobic passer-by would toss bricks through the windows, but this never happened.(5) Bob Mould and bandmates brought Hüsker Dü to the space once more before it closed in 1982—presently, the space is used for the parking facility’s maintenance.

Zoogies ad, on the back page of Equal Time's first issue. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection]].

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(1) Millet, Larry. Lost Twin Cities. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1992. Page 1.

(2) Bream, Jon. "Demise of Longhorn Bands Ending an Era." The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 8/28/1987

(3) Ibid.

(4) Longhorn Music Hall Advertisement. From the 1980 Twin cities Pride Guide, page 13.

(5) Tretter, Jean-Nickolaus. Interview with the author and Jacob Gentz, 1/16/09

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)