After five years of looking for a location following the sale of the current building it operates out of, Raleigh’s legendary LGBTQ+ bar Legends has found its next home.
During the week of January 16, Raleigh Magazine broke the news regarding the next home for the venue. Its most recent location has served as a popular LGBTQ+ gathering spot for the past 34 years at 330 W Hargett Street in the historic Warehouse District.
Back in 2020, while maintaining the current location, the owners of Legends sold the place it grew up in with the intent to finance a new and lasting forever home. Eyeing an early Summer 2025 opening date, Legends 2.0 will relocate to 316 W. Cabarrus St. For long-time locals in the area, some may notice that address as where the former location of Raleigh’s LGBTQ Center sat, giving even greater significance to the decision.
Still housed in the Warehouse District and only moving a couple of blocks away, the new location will have the venue sitting between The Depot and Eye Heart Tattoo, so patrons won’t have much extra distance to travel. Guests old and new can expect a return of many of the details that make Legends such a fun place, including an improved theater area, an expanded outdoor patio bar and a fresh dance floor to groove the night away on.
While five years is quite a stint to look for a new location, management at Legends made it clear that there was a strict list of criteria that had to be met for the new Warehouse District location.
“We needed, and wanted, to stay in the warehouse district,” Trevor Keller, Legend’s booking director, told QNotes. “The area was always our home for the last 34 years, where in the beginning, the early stages [of the district], there was not much else. There was development after Legends, but before that, it was a very different space.
“We want to make sure that the businesses are still there. We’re still thriving. The warehouse district continues to grow over time. So, one of the main criteria is to stay in the warehouse district because of all that is going on, the history of it and everything. It just had to be a perfect space for Legends.”
Coming up in an era where love and acceptance for the queer community wasn’t as widespread as in today’s world, especially in the early 90’s, the nightclub had gained an identity of being a safe and welcoming refuge. As one of the longest running LGBTQ-focused venues in North Carolina, much like Charlotte’s Scorpio Lounge, many of the queer-inclusive clubs we have in the state today can attribute the road paved for them to legacy brands like Legends.
“Legends was always a place for everyone back in the 90s, as well as today,” Keller expressed. “Back then you couldn’t go out and be who you were publicly, but at Legends, everyone was welcome. We want you to be your authentic self here, just in general. That’s one thing that we’ve always done over the last 34 years is to tell guests that, when you’re at Legends, you can be yourself. We are a place for everyone in the community.”
As announced on their Instagram profile, Legends plans to be settled in their new space in time for Pride Month, with a TBA date on the new venue’s opening night. You can follow them at @legendsraleigh for updates and further details.