District 202
2524 Nicollet Avenue (1992-1997), 1601 Nicollet Avenue (1997-2009), PO Box 8139, St. Paul (2010)
Minnesota’s first community center for LGBT youth was not the first space dedicated to its target audience in the Twin Cities. Club Vogue holds that distinction; it was a non-alcoholic dance club within the same building as Rumours and Innuendo in downtown St. Paul. Unfortunately, Club Vogue’s regulars were too rowdy for other businesses in the Rossmor, and the venture closed in 1992.(1)
Board members began assembling funds for the new youth center in 1991. They realized the plans with private donations, financial assistance from local churches, and a generous $20,000 grant from the Minneapolis foundation.(2) Even before it opened its doors in December of 1992, Minnesotans were curious about District 202’s name.
According to a 19 year-old board member, the name did not have any significance: “There’s no reason for the name.” He said in 1992, “[someone suggested District 202] and we said ‘OK. Sounds hip. It’ll take on a meaning of its own.”(3)
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Program from District 202's first queer prom, 1994. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection. |
This entry is part of:
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-2010)
(1)Southgate, David. “New Bars Open in St. Paul,” Equal Time, 4/24-5/8, 1992
(2)Southgate, David. “Youth Center to Open Dec. 1.” Equal Time, 10/23-11/6, 1992. Front Page
(3)Ibid.
(4)Many of the programs from the Proms are available in the District 202 Collection, within the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.
(5)“Gay Youth Center Gets New Space for Old Goals.” The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 5/24/1997