Historic LGBTQ nightclub sign is joining Edmonton's Neon Sign Museum
A historic and legendary gay bar from Edmonton’s past is about to have a place in the Edmonton Neon Sign Museum.
Often called Canada’s Studio 54, Flashback was established by John Reid as a celebratory haven for gay people and their friends in the tumultuous 1980s.
Flashback attempted to set itself apart from Club 70, the only official gay bar in town at the time, an article from City Museum Edmonton says. Flashback welcomed and encouraged straight people to join the party, and its real dance floor made it one of the hottest places to dance in the city.
Because of Flashback’s impact, Edmonton’s young adult crowd was starting to change their opinions on how they saw the LGBTQ community.
After it closed in 1991, the club’s iconic neon sign was lost from public view ā until now. On Saturday, the sign will be raised on the South wall of the Mercer Warehouse as part of the Neon Sign Museum on 104th Street and 104th Avenue.
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“Never in the history of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Edmonton have we ever had such a visible, prominent, and permanent display of our community,” said Ron Byers, director of the Rainbow Story Hub Foundation.
At 2 pm on Saturday, co-hosts Rainbow Story Hub Foundation and the Edmonton Queer History Project will present “Relight the Neon,” celebrating the historic moment outside the Neon Sign Museum.