Long-running LGBTQ+ nightspot the Bonham Exchange will close Saturday after failing to meet a city deadline to install a sprinkler system — an effort club officials said was delayed by a broken promise by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
In statements to local media outlets, the attorney for the downtown club said Jones promised to help it fundraise for the expensive new system but never came through, which prolonged the installation process.
In 2018, the city ordered existing restaurants and clubs with occupancy limits of 300 people or more to install sprinkler systems. As of January, the Bonham was among seven businesses that had yet to comply and became part of a city code-compliance crackdown.
The Bonham has until Saturday, Aug. 1, to complete installation of the system to avoid the city pulling its certificate of occupancy — a deadline it’s not expected to meet. It’s unclear whether the club will close at midnight or its usual 2 a.m. closing time.
Through an attorney, the Bonham asked for an additional six months for its contractor to finish installing the new equipment — initially estimated at $550,000 — throughout its three-story building, the Express-News reports. However, the city denied the request for an extension.
Bonham spokesman Joe Pugliese told the Current via email that the nightspot will reopen when it finishes the sprinkler installation, although the work is still in the beginning stages.
The Bonham Exchange secured a loan to cover the cost of the system, and the club also raised some $25,000 through various fundraisers, Pugliese told the Current.
“Raising $550,000 for a project like this is hard for anyone, but we are so very pleased to have accomplished this goal and are able to move forward with the preservation of the Bonham Exchange,” Pugliese added in the July 16 email. “We now have the funds available to begin the work, and our contractor will submit the first phase of construction plans within the next few days.”
In February, the Bonham signed an agreement with the city allowing it to continue operating with fewer patrons until the sprinkler systems were installed. The sprinklers also must be approved by the San Antonio Fire Department.
Bonham attorney Javier Guerra told both the Express-News and KSAT that the project stalled at the outset due to Jones’ public declaration that she would help the club fundraise to cover the cost.
“I’m going to do what I need to do and work hard, and I hope others will chip in as well so we can save this institution,” Jones said at the time, telling reporters on the day the agreement was signed that she was “on the hook for helping to raise money.”
However, Guerra and the club’s general manager, Joan Duckworth, said that never happened. Instead, the pair told local media that the extent of Jones’ help was introducing Duckworth to Bryant Ambelang, the CEO of Silver Ventures, the developer behind the Pearl complex. Ambelang reportedly proposed the Bonham change its business model by leasing out parts of the space.
That was the only outreach for assistance from the mayor, Duckworth told KSAT.
“The only contact I’ve had is where she brought in totally new business ideas that would take away from it being the gay institution it’s been for 45 years,” Duckworth said to the TV station.
As such, Guerra and Duckworth claim the project fell behind as they waited for clarity on funding.
“We would ask the city to give us additional time as we are moving forward in good faith,” Guerra said in a texted statement to KSAT. “Unfortunately some time was lost early on as we hoped money would be furnished from other sources, but we now have the money necessary to make the installation required.”
Jones’ chief of staff, Andrew Fuentes, defended the mayor’s actions to the Express-News.
“The mayor kept her promise to the Bonham Exchange by arranging for them to receive several potential business solutions, not only to install the legally required sprinkler systems the Bonham has needed, but options that would also put the Bonham on a path to become financially sustainable and open for the long-term,” Fuentes told the paper. “The mayor understands the Bonham chose not to explore those potential business solutions further and respects their decision.”
However, on the day Jones verbally committed to help to fundraise, KSAT reports that journalists pressed the mayor on what exactly she was promising — and it appeared to be more than just making introductions to a local developer.
In response to the questions, Jones said she was committing to “helping to raise money.”
“The way in which you fundraise,” Jones continued. “You call and say, ‘Hey, can I count on you for X amount of money,’ right?’”
Duckworth told KSAT in mid-July that she still hopes the mayor will help the club.
“I’m trying to hope that she is a person of her word,” Duckworth said.
The other San Antonio clubs that didn’t have sprinkler systems as of late January included Club 727, Industry Nightclub, Heat Nightclub, Nuevo Volcan, I-10 Icehouse and the Paper Tiger, according to the Express-News.
Club 727 also is being forced to close on Saturday, the paper reports.
The Heat and Industry were allowed to return to normal operations in April, according to the daily. Paper Tiger is scheduled to receive its final permits and undergo a city inspection this week. Nuevo Volcan is waiting on final permits and I-10 Icehouse is awaiting inspection ahead of August deadlines.
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