Beach Bars and Resorts
From Jack’s on Madeira Beach in the 1950s to the Flamingo Resort in the 2010s, we have created beach bars and entertainment complexes where we could gather and celebrate ourselves.
Jack's Place
In the 1950s, Jack’s Place at Madeira Beach was the place where gay men and lesbians went to relax, socialize, and be themselves. Trans-masculine photographer Bobby Smith took many photos of the community socializing along the beach there, including on the wooden groins placed near the mouth of St. Johns Pass to prevent beach erosion. The groins are pictured here in a 1950s era postcard, and below in playful community photos from the 1960s by Bobby Smith.
The Wedgewood Inn
1701 4th Street South, St. Petersburg (1976-1982)
In 1976 attorney Bob Pope and his partner Lawrence Konrad bought a historic landmark and turned it into an LGBT resort. It offered 40 hotel rooms, a restaurant, and a disco bar. “During our height we’d have people standing in line for a block and a half to get inside,” Pope remembered.
The place was raided for serving liquor after 2:00 am, when it only had a liquor license for the restaurant. But the bigger problem was keeping up with repairs in the aging building.
After switching owners multiple times, it closed in 1982.
The Lighted Tree
109 8th Ave., St. Petersburg Beach (Pass-A-Grille) 1980-1994
Jim Pagel, a bartender at the Lighted Tree, remembers his first visit to Pass-A-Grille in the late 1970s:
“I was walking on the beach and came to a concession stand . . . on the other side of the concession stand it wasn’t families anymore. It was just men in speedos, and the beach was packed! I thought, this is interesting.”
The arson was never solved. Deciding to move on, Owners Costanza and Dempsey purchased the much larger facility on Treasure Island and named it Bedrox.
Bedrox
Treasure Island (1989-1997)
In 1989 a gay and lesbian dance club opened at Sunset Beach on Treasure Island in the large concrete building that housed the Penguin Club. Named Bedrox because the building evoked The Flinstones cartoon, it was painted pink by the new owner Kim Costanza. It attracted large crowds, especially on Sunday evenings, and received complaints from nearby residents, who complained of noise and sex on the beach.It remained open until 1997, when it was acquired by the city, demolished, and turned into a park.
St. Petersburg’s Suncoast Resort
3000 34th Street South (1998-2007)
In July 1998, Lester Wolff and Tom Kiple opened an 8-acre, 120-room resort they billed as “the largest all-gay resort and entertainment complex in the country.” It included a shopping mall with space for 40 retailers. They hoped it would compete with Key West and Ft. Lauderdale for LGBT tourists. Lasting until 2007, the Suncoast resort featured a popular Sunday afternoon tea dance. The Suncoast’s piano bar was named Wedgewood, in honor of the previous LGBT resort.
The Flamingo
4601 34th St South, St. Petersburg (2009-2019)
Watch St Petersburg’s ROTC (Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps) entertain the crowd at the Flamingo
When the Flamingo Resort and Entertainment Complex closed its doors in 2019, to make room for a new luxury apartments, it represented the end of an era. See how local ABC Action News covered it.