Lizard Lounge, a landmark Deep Ellum nightclub since 1991, has shuttered. For now, at least.
Known for DJ-driven music, hosting major touring acts such as Moby and Fatboy Slim, and for ’80s industrial and Gothic music nights known as “The Church,” the bar has a colorful past. It also recently surmounted major hurdles — like losing much of its parking to Uber — in order to keep going.
Lizard Lounge owner Don Nedler says “The Church,” which began in 1994 and helped rejuvenate his business, will eventually live on at It’ll Do Club, where he is a managing partner. He also insists that Lizard Lounge will return, perhaps in a smaller building, and live to see its 30th birthday.
But this is not just another crazy chapter in the bar’s history, which includes legendary block parties under the nearby overpass, as well as Dennis Rodman and Madonna showing up in a black Ferrari back in the mid ’90s, wanting to buy the place. Nedler admits that he closed Lizard Lounge because his other option was to burn his retirement funds paying $28,000 a month to maintain an empty building.
“I’m heartbroken,” Nedler said. “I’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of messages from people and they have been very personal about their experiences at Lizard Lounge. This is a place where so many people met their wives and their husbands that they now have families with. We created epic experiences with people that they carry for the rest of their lives.”
“I don’t know when we’ll be able to reopen,” he added. “But I don’t think it’s going to happen until we have a vaccine. I don’t see any social distancing guidelines that are going to allow nightclubs to operate and we can’t operate at 25% capacity. But we will find a way to do it. And when we do there is room for another Lizard Lounge. The name is iconic, and I’m committed to reopening it in 2021.”
With an announcement forthcoming, Nedler says he is planning to allow the public to show up at Lizard Lounge and “view the body” on Wednesday.
The nightclub will remain closed as it has since mid-March, but he wants to offer his patrons one last look.
