The Clermont Lounge Is Finally Back in Business

The Clermont Lounge is finally ready to re-open its doors. After nine months in the dark, the famous dive bar/dance hall/strip club has revealed it will we begin service again tonight at 8 p.m.

“And finally, we can officially announce that the Clermont Lounge will open tonight at 8PM,” reads a Friday afternoon post on Facebook. “We'd like to give a special thanks to Kwanza Hall for all of his hard work in helping to reopen the Clermont Lounge!” The Clermont appears to have endorsed City Counselor Hall’s mayoral candidacy with an #everybodysmayor hashtag at the end of the post.”

The Poncey-Highland landmark has been temporarily shuttered since New Year’s Day as an extensive restoration project has transformed the Clermont Hotel upstairs. Boarded up since 2009, the new-and-improved hotel will soon offer modern, boutique lodging and a rooftop restaurant. Most importantly, developers have promised the seedy basement nightclub will remain in operation down below.

The timeline originally called for The Clermont Lounge to reopen in mid-February, but that target was pushed, and subsequently missed, several times. A reopening appeared to be imminent near the end of July, but additional work on the venue’s sprinkler system extended the delay.

In the meantime, there have been charity carwashes and crowdfunding campaigns to support Blondie, Peaches, and the rest of the club’s dancers. Now, at long last, they’re about to be back on the clock.

• Pay Peaches a Visit Before the Clermont Lounge Temporarily Shutters in January [EATL]
• Clermont Hotel Names Jeb Aldrich as Executive Chef [EATL]
• All Coverage of The Clermont Lounge [EATL]