After 40 Years, Venture Inn Sets January 17 Closing Date

As we celebrate the beginning of 2016 and are finished singing "Auld Lang Sine," the Gayborhood sadly has to bid farewell to an institution, The Venture Inn.

It has been a watering hole and meeting place in the Gayborhood for over 40 years. The owners of the Venture Inn, Bob and Linda Berkowitz, recently finalized the sale of 1217 Spruce St., which included the Venture Inn on Camac Street. While Bob and Linda valiantly tried to negotiate to keep Venture in as a gay bar during the sale, at the final hour they were not able to do so.

Thankfully all the employees were able to secure jobs in other bars and restaurants in the Gayborhood. Henry Britton, General Manager of Venture, will now be at Valanni. Robert "Sandy Beach" Hitchen has secured a new venue, Tabu, for his monthly cabaret show "La Cage Aux Beach," also Tabu is where he will be working.

During the purchase process the rumor mill was going rampant as to what the fate of Venture Inn would be, we've heard it will be a straight bar, others have said it will be a Chinese restaurant, a laundromat and others have heard it will be torn down and a new building will be put in its place. We will just have to wait and see what the outcome will be. No matter what happens to the building it can't take away all the fond memories we have.

There are probably more stories about the history of the Venture Inn at 255 S Camac St. than about any other gay bar in Philadelphia or in the USA. The stories have run the gambit, like it was the stable of the house owned by the Barrymores, but alas no Barrymores ever lived in the building. Then we've heard that it was part of the Underground Railroad, unfortunately there is nothing that can be proven to say that it was or wasn't, if there was a link between the Venture Inn and the Underground Railroad network, nothing can be found to prove or disprove it. Another one many have heard was that it already was a popular eating and drinking spot by the time of the 1876 Centennial, alas that too is not true as the building was still owned by the Harrison family and many, many more.

Originally the area that Venture Inn is located was known as "Hazel Alley" back in the 1800s. The building has gone through many transformations in its time. It was part of a residence, a stable, a rectory, employment office, a tea house and then in the 1930s it became the Venture Inn. After World War II, Venture Inn was a piano bar, like so many other restaurants and bars in the Washington West area, it served up food, drinks as well as live entertainment.

As time marched on the building still remained and in the 1950s & '60s, the Venture Inn became a popular downtown hangout for college aged kids. Then around 1962, a Philadelphia Magazine article listed the Venture Inn among the bars in the city which were places that, gasp, "Homosexuals" frequented. This was the first mention that can be found that the Venture Inn was having any kind of gay clientele in the building.

In the early months of 1973 the Venture Inn went from being a "gay friendly" bar to being a gay bar. Then in May of 1977, the business came under the ownership of Ted Wasserman. Ted operated the Inn for the next 30 years. But by the beginning of the new millennium both the building and its patrons were showing their age and the Venture got a reputation of attracting an older clientele, and was nicknamed "Denture Inn."

In 2007 the building was sold to its current owners, Bob and Linda Berkowitz. Then the "Ol' Girl" got a facelift with a new kitchen staff was hired and the business got back on its feet. By 2008, the Venture Inn won the Philadelphia Rainbow Award for best Bar/Pub and not too long after that the stucco fa�ade had been totally refurbished and painted a gray color with a new awning over the door as well as remodeling inside.

So as you can see the Venture Inn does have a long and unique history. No matter what, I doubt that any other major city can say that on a 200 year old side street is a building that had been a stable to Quaker abolitionists and a Prohibition era tea room and a Gay bar.

So as the doors close on January 17, we are left with this thought......The Venture wasn't just a building for many people who worked there or ate/drank there, it was a home, a family, a community. And the community will be a little sadder with it gone.