A new gay bar called Vice Worcester is on schedule to open this fall. Located on Grafton Street in downtown Worcester, Mass., the bar’s owners are aiming for a grand opening on Halloween night.
Reports MassLive.com:
The city currently only has two LGBTQ+ venues, those being MB Lounge, a gay bar on Grafton Street and the lesbian bar, Femme Bar on Green Street. In his own words, Lapin, 38, says Worcester needs to have more “gay things to do.”
This fall, Lapin he and his boyfriend will expand the gay club scene by opening Vice Worcester, a gay bar located on Pleasant Street.
Lapin’s boyfriend, Mike Steward, will be running the day-to-day operations of the bar while Lapin will be in charge of marketing.
The bar is currently under construction but Lapin hopes it will open on Halloween night. The bar will also have an information booth during the Worcester Pride event on Sept. 12.
“We’re kind of building on the culture of gay bars as being more than just a place to get a drink, but also a place to connect, to have community, to dance, to meet friends,” Lapin said. “So it’s not just a transient spot to get alcohol and move on. It becomes a fixture of the lives of queer people in a community.”
As a venue, Lapin hopes Vice Worcester will be an establishment for gay men both in the city and beyond. He also hopes the venue will help create a more robust bar-hopping culture in the city. Though he praised the current LGBTQ+ venues, Lapin said he wants to create a space larger than the MB Lounge and be specifically for gay men, unlike Femme Bar’s mostly lesbian clients.
“Everyone’s welcome but we really position ourselves as a gay bar, meaning were building on gay culture and gay bar culture,” Lapin said.
