Walker’s Point LGBTQ+ bar and nightclub La Cage will soon take on a new name and look as its new owners push to save the operation and its reputation.
By early February, the bar, located at 801 S. 2nd St., will officially be renamed LVL, with each of its three floors taking on a different version of that name. Its third floor event space will be named LVL Events, its lower-level dance club will tentatively be named LVL Discoteque, and its main level was recently remodeled and reopened last month as LVL Bistro, a restaurant serving high-end bar food.
The restaurant’s menu is not fully developed but business has already been promising just within its first few weeks, co-owner George Prentice said.
Prentice and Corey Grubb in 1984 first opened the club as La Cage aux Folles and in 2005, sold it to former owner Michael Jost. But in August last year, due to a steep downturn in La Cage’s operations, Prentice and Grubb bought back the business and the building to prevent it from shutting down.
“Back in the day, (La Cage) was held up as an example of a well-run night club and later, it went on to be designated by the police department as a nuisance and getting a license suspension,” Prentice said. “We got back in there when the club had turned into a problem.”
Because the bar’s name had been tarnished, Prentice said a new identity was necessary, but said he expects the rebranding efforts to revitalize the operation.
