The Limelight - History

History

Peter Gatien opened the first Limelight nightclub in Hollywood, Florida, in the 1970s. After a devastating fire in the late 1970s, Gatien chose Atlanta for his next incarnation of Limelight. The Atlanta Limelight opened in February 1980. It was housed in a strip mall in the former home of the Harlequin Dinner Theatre. In 1983, Gatien relocated to New York to open another Limelight club, while his brother Maurice managed the Atlanta club. Maurice reportedly had less talent for running a nightclub than Peter did. "Peter was the brains behind the operation," according to house photographer and publicist Guy D'Alema. "Maurice ... didn't want to spend a dime and didn't have a creative bone in his body." The Atlanta club was located next to a 24-hour Kroger grocery store, which became known widely as "Disco Kroger."

The Limelight in Atlanta was more than a night spot in Atlanta next to what would become known as the Disco Kroger. It was a high profile Euro-style night club that hosted many notables and celebrities over the years. A single photo taken in June of 1981 skyrocketed the focus on the club, when celebrity photographer Guy D'Alema captured an image of Anita Bryant dancing the night away with evangelist Russ McGraw (known in the gay communities as an activist). Several hundred newspapers and magazines ran with the photo with the headline: “Anita Upset Over Disco Photo”. Peter Gatien, relished the publicity. The club hosted many Interview Magazine events which brought names like Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, Ali MacGraw, and Village People's Randy Jones, among others to the club. Celebrity sightings included Tom Cruise, Pia Zadora, Shannon Tweed, Gene Simmons and Rick Springfield, to name but a few. The club also served as a location for Columbia Pictures' film Slugger’s Wife, starring Rebecca De Mornay and directed by Hal Ashby.

The Limelight in Chicago was housed in the former home of the Chicago Historical Society; the building itself was an historical structure. While short-lived as a club under the Limelight moniker, it exists to this day as a nightclub; presently, it is the location of both the Excalibur and Vision nightclubs.

The Limelight in London was located in a former Welsh Presbyterian church on Shaftesbury Avenue, just off Cambridge Circus, which dates from the 1890s. The London club's decline in popularity led to the club being sold as a going concern, eventually being taken over in 2003 by Australian pub chain The Walkabout, which converted it into a sports bar. This too eventually ceased trading and the premises is now in disuse.

The Limelight in New York City, which was owned by Peter Gatien, opened in November 1983. It was housed in a former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, a Gothic Revival brownstone building which was built in 1844-1845, as designed by architect Richard Upjohn. In the early 1970s, when the parish merged with two others, the church was deconsecrated and sold to Odyssey House, a drug rehabilitation program. Amidst financial hardship, Odyssey House sold it to Gatien in 1982. Located on Avenue of the Americas, at West 20th Street, the New York Limelight originally started as a disco and rock club. In the 1990s, it became a prominent place to hear techno, goth, and industrial music, and to obtain recreational drugs. It earned the media's attention in 1996, when Club Kid and party promoter Michael Alig was arrested and later convicted for the killing and dismemberment of Angel Melendez, a drug dealer at the club. The 2003 film Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green, was based on this event. The Limelight was closed by the police, and subsequently reopened several times during the 1990s. In September 2003, it reopened under the name "Avalon"; however, it closed its doors for good in 2007. Since May, 2010, the building has been in use as the Limelight Marketplace.