Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot –
August 6, 2006
CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:
LA councilman joins Boom fight
Los Angeles’ first openly gay city councilman, Bill Rosendahl, has joined the effort to preserve the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in Laguna Beach, Save the Boom founder Fred Karger said.
The Save the Boom effort has obtained more than 4,000 signatures on petitions, Karger said. The goal is 5,000 signatures.
Rosendahl joins former Laguna City councilman and three-time mayor Robert F. Gentry as co-chair.
“I am hopeful that we can help create a public-private partnership with the city, the property owner, and the gay community to preserve not only this building but gay life in Laguna Beach,” Gentry said.
“I have been going to Laguna Beach since 1981,” Rosendahl said. “I want to continue to come back to the Laguna I know and love just as I have been doing for the past 25 years. This club and hotel are an integral part of the community, and they should be there for future generations.
“The Boom Boom Room is steeped in history. It is the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the western United States and is viewed as a landmark by the gay community. It must be preserved. I hope that Laguna Beach City leaders will help us in our campaign to Save the Boom,” Rosendahl said. advertisement
Gentry, who served on the Laguna city council from 1982 to 1994, was one of the first openly gay mayors in the United States.
The Save the Boom campaign was launched on June 1. For more information, visit www.savetheboom.com.