A new LGBT after-party premiered in Northeast Philadelphia Feb. 22. The party, Club House, is located at 4070 Aramingo Ave. and runs from 2-6 a.m. The event is bring-your-own beer and admission is $20. Owner Michelle Dienno was inspired to create the event through her own personal experience with the nightlife in Philadelphia. She said she was disappointed with the lack of after-party scene in the city’s LGBT clubs. “I work for an Italian restaurant in Center City and there are a lot of us there who go out after work,” she said. “We felt the need for something like this. We kind of felt like we had to create our own little clubhouse, which is where name the comes from.” Dienno, who has worked in Philadelphia for 12 years, said she and her coworkers would go out to clubs like Woody’s and Sisters after a shift, but found there was little to do after the bars closed at 2 a.m. in the Gayborhood. “I thought, why can’t we have something that is laidback and chill and open to everybody? My friends and I love dancing, drag shows and we thought, why not just do it and have it as BYOB? It is out of the way a little bit, but after 2 o’clock, where do you go? You don’t have a lot of options.” Originally, Club House was slated to be for the over-25 crowd, but that limit was changed to over-21. Dienno said she has a security team in place to make sure the space is safe and violence-free. Dienno said plans for Club House have been in the works for about six to eight months but finding a venue was difficult. “We have talked about it for months, but we just could never find a location because the price was never right. People would want to help us and then would back out, but then this location came upon us so fast,” she said. Dienno rents the venue, which used to be a social club in a warehouse. “It isn’t a huge place but that is the beauty of it. We hope to build a clientele, a drama-free zone, and have people come for shows,” she said. Down the line, Dienno said she may launch a shuttle-bus service to go back and forth among the bars in the Gayborhood and Club House. Club House has a strict dress code, which includes no white T-shirts, fitted caps or construction boots. For more information on Club House, email [email protected].
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