Gay bathhouse in dc
With Crew Club closing, what’s the future of the homosexual bathhouse in D.C. and beyond?
Even in 2020, no one the Blade contacted would go on the record to talk about their experiences at the Crew Club, the Washington gay gym and bathhouse that will end its 25-year run next month.
It wasn’t difficult finding folks who went — the club near Logan Circle has always been popular. But attribution was tough to pin down.
“I would go occasionally. It was very hit or miss,” one Washington same-sex attracted man said. “Going on a Saturday night around 2 a.m. could be insane on some nights though. Sweet, tipsy out-of-town gays who were sweet and fun. I had some nuts times in the sauna and steam room.”
It’s fair to say many male lover and bi men in the region will miss the club. Owner DC Allen sold the building mid-2016 to a real estate developer, a deal that’s estimated to have netted them more than twice what they paid for it in 2003, according to city tax records. The 8,000-square-foot, two-story building was assessed at a value of more than $5 million for 2020, according to previous Blade reports. He cited the health of his partner and his own health (they’re 70 and 63 respectively) as the main reason they opted not
A few men wore cock rings, keeping themselves erect. Others took showers and scurried about, like sentinels patrolling their castles or hunters searching for meat in a densely populated wood.
Some moaned, some masturbated. Some hugged and affectionately kissed acquaintances on the cheek. Cozy rooms with doors swung open revealed men lying flat on their stomachs and men touching their nipples. At the very end of a dim corridor, one man performed oral sex on another. In the empty gym downstairs, Anderson Cooper, live on CNN, presided over unused machines.
As the 14th Street NW corridor has transformed over the past two decades, there has remained a scantily clad constant: towelled-up and naked men roaming the Crew Club with their dicks out.
On a recent Tuesday night, when locker and room prices were half off, the gay men’s health spa teemed with butts and bears—the hairy, human gentle. Though most patrons appeared to be older than 40, ages ran the gamut. So did races: There was a explain white majority sprinkled with mostly younger black, Latino, and Asian men. Body types ranged from svelte to corpulent.
What these visitors all shared in common was that they were looking to break
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