Metropolis/Mildred’s Palace/Metro-Metropolis
1 SW Third
True address was 118 West Burnside
Years: 1979 -1982 (could have been 1981)
After losing the lease at the Pythian Building in 1979 due to the divorce between the owners, one of the owners and his landlord Jim Atwood secured another place for Lanny to continue with his underage club, this one was off Burnside and 3rd – about 4 blocks. The name changed to “The Metropolis”, still an underage nightclub – this time with a “Saturday Night Fever” fully lit dance floor, with three walls of mirrors, making the space appear to be bigger than it was. At the same time, another nightclub the Tropique Disco opened, but that was for an all-age club though not serving alcohol. Lanny’s club charged a cover of $5.00. In direct competition, Tropique decided not to charge a cover. Lanny reasoned to charge a cover, “You can’t sell a Pepsi and expect to make any money or stay in business too long.” Through all of this, Lanny faced a problem: perception. He walked a very thin line between trying to help underage kids and the suspicion by some that he was a recruiter of young boys for the gay community, “luring them in” which he always stated was far from the truth.
The building was on the corner of SW 3rd and Burnside. The original address was 1 SW Burnside. 1 was a door that was facing Burnside and Third on the corner across from Paris Theatre or later Theatre Paris. Later the entrance was moved to the middle of the building and the address then became 108 SW Burnside, the bar entrance was at 316 SW Burnside.
To open the new bar Lanny reached out and asked the United States National Bank for a loan. Here are the loan documents. One of the documents was the layout of the space see below Left. Below Right is a PTC [Portland Town Council] handout from November 1979.
In June 1981 Lanny applied for a Class A liquor license. Various letters were written by Downtown Community Association which stated, “Since Mr. Swerdlow’s establishment began offering an appropriate place for young gay persons to congregate, there has been a notable lessening of problems around Third and Fourth Avenues and Yamhill Street…”; Sanford Director stated, “he would improve his service to his customers and in return, decrease crime on the streets…by giving their clientele a pleasant place to dance and spend time, it reduces the amount of traffic which congregates on SW 3rd and Yamhill and Taylor Streets, especially in the hot summer months.”; And Vera Katz, State Representative, “I feel this is in the best interest of the Portland larger community and a valuable public service.”
At Bill Hick’s suggestion to divide the club into two spaces. a glass wall between [see the “Toto” ad] “disco/restaurant ” for underage and “lounge” for those over 21. The restaurant was called DIVINE’S AT THE MET. Below is the cover of the menu.
Per an interview with Mark Thomas on 10/8/2021, “The space was divided into two rooms with a wall and glass window you could see between each space. The first room had I believe the (first) dance floor (in Portland) that lit up and moved to the rhythm of the music – motion lights in the floor. The other side was a beer/wine/food over 21. If you were 21 you could go between the two spaces. I had a fake ID, and well, I guess I looked older than 21 so I went from one side to the other. There was a ‘private’ VIP room in the basement of the ‘lounge’ – off the menu where only certain people were ‘invited’. It has couches and a coffee table where a silver tray was passed around with coke to snort. Other drugs were MDA etc. Let’s say it was Portland’s Studio 54. But not that many people knew about it – you really had to be chosen.” Below photo from the Cascade Voice January 28, 1983 issue on page 14.
Per an article in Cascade Voice page 13, January 1982 Coming Out AGAIN at Mildred’s Palace. Unfortunately, during Mildred’s tenure at the Pythian, the building changed owners and the new owners did not want to rent to gays so when the lease came to renewal they refused to renew to a gay, so we had to move. And that’s how we came to the present location at 316 West Burnside only it wasn’t called Mildred’s at first, rather, Metropolis. The Metropolis, or the Met as it was called then…The Met had a tavern section offering beer and wine to those 21 and over something Mildred’s never had…In 1980 I attempted to obtain a license to sell hard liquor to our tavern section, but was turned down by the OLCC…I was burned out and turned the operation over to Bill Hicks, the young man who (originally approached me about opening a night club for young people to get them off the street and out of Camp) back in 1977 and had worked with me ever since…For nine months he had poured all his energy into making this a viable concept, but it never produced sufficient revenue to keep the club going…Bill asked me to take the club over again.
Ad in January 1982 Cascade Voice [see below Left] shows the space was renamed Mildred’s Palace per an ad in the Cascade Voice on February 11, 1982, announcing Wanda Jackson doing drag [see below Middle. The photo below Middle of Wanda Kentucky Jackson was taken at Embers Avenue circa 1985-87. Photo by Kimberlee Van Patten].
Per Lanny “Since the name “Metropolis” had become synonymous with new wave music. I felt the name had to be changed and so Mildred’s Palace was born again.” A larger ad in the June 1982 page 4 of The Cascade Voice states, “THE MET – (under new management). Then in an ad in the October 1982 issue of the Cascade Voice page 41 “Thursdays - Fridays Drag Shows”.
Per Lanny. “The Met changed to The Metropolis, still an underage nightclub – this time with a Saturday Night Fever fully lit dance floor, with three walls of mirrors, making the space appear to be bigger than it was.”
Per a conversation with Lanny Swerdlow on October 2021, “Bill Hicks thought it would be a good idea to have punk rock at The Metropolis.” When Metropolis closed, Lanny moved with his partner to Baker Oregon to assist in a family business, restaurant, and hotel. This only lasted approximately six months before they moved back to Portland and he negotiated for the first location of what would become City Nightclub on SW 13th.
When Lanny moved to SW 13th to open The City Nightclub, the building became Chang’s Mongolian Grill and presently, Dante’s.
citations & references:
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1981 “New Metropolis (YC) (Disco) (D-Dancing) (AH) (Ice Cream fountain) (Connecting tavern) (WE*) 1 SW 3rd.
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1982 “New Metropolis (YC) (Disco) (D-Dancing) (AH) (Ice Cream fountain) (Connecting tavern) (WE*) 1 SW 3rd.
Per a paper called Chronology of Portland’s Gay Bars – author unknown, “drag shows 1982.”
Not listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1983
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1984 listed as Mildred’s Palace (one side for teenie boppers) with an address of 326 W Burnside.
Below is photo of Dante’s 2020.
