Facing eviction, Westlake’s oldest gay bar is seeking donations to help with relocation costs, according to a GoFundMe campaign.
“Recently, we received heartbreaking news from our landlord,” Martha Vasquez, the owner of the Silver Platter bar on 7th Street in Westlake, wrote on GoFundMe. “Our beloved Silver Platter Bar is facing eviction due to property development plans for new apartments.”
Last year, L.A. TACO reported that the 60+-year-old bar was set to be demolished to make way for a seven-story, 55-unit apartment complex.
Community members and preservationists believe that the bar should be designated a historic landmark due to its decades long history of being a safe haven for the neighborhood's gay and transgender communities, as well as its proximity to other landmarks associated with the gay rights movement in Westlake, a neighborhood that has historically provided a home for LGBTQ organizations.
But because the Silver Platter project has already been approved, city officials do not have the authority to alter the building’s historic designation, according to a spokesperson for Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, the elected city official who represents Westlake.