According to a recent article from the Portland Eater, Badlands will soon open in the Old Town area, located at 110 NW Broadway.
“We are aiming to be open sometime in March or so,” TJ Bruce, the brain behind the new operation, told What Now Portland.
According to an article from Willamette Week back in 2018, Badlands will replace what was previously home to Embers. “Last November, Portlanders mourned when nightclub Embers announced it would close after 48 years as a bastion of gay culture at the edge of Old Town—an unusually sudden end that came about after the owner suffered what the club called a “massive stroke.”
“But the new business owner in the space, TJ Bruce, says he plans to “carry on the tradition” in the former Embers space at 110 NW Broadway by opening a new gay dance club called Badlands, as soon as this summer—although timing will depend heavily on the level of renovations needed.”
“Bruce is a 20-year veteran opening bars, with another spot called Badlands in Sacramento, plus three different nightclubs called Splash in Fresno, San Jose, and Reno. He says he hopes to bring much of the same vibe to the Portland Badlands as at his previous Splash locations.”
“His two-story, video-screen-packed San Jose location was the most popular Lyft location in the Bay Area, potentially good news for a Portland gay bar scene that hasn’t seen a high-profile opening in years.”
“Bruce says it was his local ties that led to him taking over the former Embers space. “My family lives on the Oregon coast, he says. “I come up here often, and I’ve become enamored with the space.” Bruce, who also works as a contractor, will do his renovations on Badlands and hopes to begin construction within the next couple of months,” the article adds.
Another article from the Portland Eater, also written back in 2018, adds “The line up of events for the original include karaoke night, ’90s night, $3 Smirnoff drinks, drag shows, and go-go dancers.”
