Reprieve for Boom Boom Room, hotel

Laguna will have another 12 months to keep on boomin’.

The landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn have been granted a one-year lease renewal by new building owner Steven Udvar-Hazy.

“We have a reprieve and hope that the reprieve will lead to a permanent solution,” said Fred Karger, chairman of Save the Boom, a group that has been campaigning to keep the landmark gay bar intact.

The breathing space comes just weeks before the current lease was due to expire in September.

“Steven [Udvar-Hazy] and I have been in negotiations for the past three weeks extending the lease,” said Patrick O’Laughlin, co-owner and operator of the two businesses. “He came to us and asked if we would be interested in staying.”

The pair went back and forth negotiating on the rental rates, and came to a verbal agreement earlier this week. They are currently putting together a formal written contract.

“We’re really excited,” O’Laughlin said. “We’re glad that our employees will remain employed and that we’ll continue to have a place for our customers to enjoy. In the meantime, I’ll look for another place in Southern California.”

“I’m comfortable with his indication that he [Udvar-Hazy] might be amenable to keeping it as a gay establishment, and I think it’s got great potential,” Karger said.

Property owner Udvar-Hazy has reportedly purchased every parcel on the 100 block of Mountain Road, Karger said, which includes Coast Liquor, Gay Mart — a small shop catering to gay clientele — and a residential home.

Coast Liquor and Gay Mart had previously negotiated one-year lease extensions, Karger claimed.

Regarding the future of the site once the one-year lease is up, O’Laughlin said it depends on Udvar-Hazy.

Udvar-Hazy’s agent, Joe Smith of Monarch Beach Realty, had indicated in the past that the property, which includes 18,000 feet of oceanfront commercial space and a liquor license, may be turned into a boutique hotel.

“Much of it depends on his process and what he wants to do with renovations and such,” O’Laughlin said. “He’s a very nice gentleman and it’s been a pleasure dealing with him.”

Gay activists who had rallied to the Boom’s cause were elated.

“It keeps the issue of the role of the gay community in that little town highlighted,” said former Laguna Mayor Bob Gentry, co-chair of Save the Boom.

Gentry — one of the first openly gay mayors in the U.S. — now divides his time between Honolulu and Rancho Mirage.

Laguna was flooded with media rumors earlier this year that film stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt were involved in the Boom’s purchase, but such rumors have been denied by all parties.

“That’s another Laguna characteristic,” said Gentry, who joined Save the Boom in June as its co-chair. “I love it; I just love it. Laguna Beach has a history of stardom, and this is really natural to have those kinds of rumors surface.”

Karger said that his group has gathered nearly 5,000 signatures over the summer, and anticipates submitting them to the City Council after the Labor Day weekend. He hopes to seek a permanent home for the bar, which he says is reputedly the Western United States’ oldest gay bar.

Gentry heard the news on Tuesday night.

“I was thrilled,” he said. “The Boom is one of those wonderful Laguna Beach stories.”

Karger is currently on a cruise in the Aegean Sea. After he heard the news Wednesday, he was “up to the wee hours working on the ship’s computer,” he said. “I’ve had trouble sleeping, it’s so exciting.”

“I think it was a very good business decision for the owner because it keeps the property active,” Gentry said. “It keeps a great business going for him in the future, and that’s always good insurance because that business could stay, depending on what happens. It shows some sensitivity and interest in getting the community together.

“It’s also good for the community, because it provides some time and some visibility to keep that symbol active, either in Laguna Beach or in another place,” Gentry said.

“We’re going to forge ahead and try to work with the city leaders and the gay community, and I hope we can come to an agreement to be around for another 60 years,” Karger said.

“If Laguna Beach comes together and says that this is an important part of our city culture, something will happen. If the city ignores it and wants to get away from it, that might happen, too. The city has a lot of ‘bully pulpit’ strength,” Gentry said.

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Should city officials act to permanently save the Boom Boom Room? Write us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA, 92652, e-mail us at coastlinepilot@latimes.com or fax us at 494-8979. Please give your name and tell us your home address and phone number for verification purposes only.