Metro Entertainment Complex to close doors this weekend after 28 years

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s past telephone for a North Florida nightclub that has been serving the LGBTQ+ assemblage for the past 28 years.

Metro Entertainment Complex proprietor Jerry Rosenberg announced the nightclub volition beryllium shutting its doors this weekend.

Rosenberg said the nightclub took a hard deed owed to the pandemic.

“AJ and I privation to convey everyone who has supported Metro done the years,” Rosenberg said. “We person been the arrogant owners for 15 of the 28 years. It has been an unthinkable experience. We’ve had the astir fantastic unit and friends down america since time one. The pandemic has deed america precise hard, being closed truthful overmuch past year. We person an accidental to merchantability the buildings and onshore to a developer.”

Rosenberg besides teased a caller determination could beryllium opening up soon.

“We are precise excited to beryllium moving with immoderate of our cardinal employees astir partnering with america to determination Metro to a shiny caller smaller determination successful the community!” Rosenberg said.

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Located connected the country of College Street and Willow Branch Avenue successful historical Riverside, the nightclub has been a harmless abstraction for thousands successful Jacksonville.

Metro raised thousands of dollars for section LGBTQ+ charities, hosted pageants, fundraisers and was voted Best Local LGBT Bar successful 2019.

After learning of the closure, galore took to societal media to stock memories and stories.

“Metro Entertainment Complex has been much than conscionable a cheery bar, it’s been a sanctuary for truthful many,” Jacksonville autochthonal Rj Kennedy said. “It helped enactment maine done instrumentality schoolhouse arsenic a bartender erstwhile I moved backmost from UCF/Orlando.”

Metro was a harmless abstraction for each and a large portion of people’s lives.

“Metro was my archetypal cheery club, a spot that allowed maine to beryllium myself and find myself,” 1 section said.

Another patron said, “You gave america each a spot to person fun, beryllium authentically who we are, and beryllium safe. I was determination the nighttime the nine opened and I volition beryllium determination the past night! I americium going to miss the nine and each the large times we had determination implicit the years! Thanks for being portion of our lives!”

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It is uncertain who bought the location, but during the pandemic, the owners of Jacksonville’s Sun-Ray Cinema opened a drive-in movie theatre successful Metro’s ample parking lot.

Rosenberg said to ticker for announcements by pursuing the Metro Entertainment Complex Facebook page.

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