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The three-story building along Broad Street was once a popular LGBTQ club. (Mike Platania photo)
A Broad Street property with a storied past is getting new life.
The three-story building at 2033 W. Broad St. is being converted into nine apartments plus commercial space. The redevelopment is being led by local developer, broker and investor Birck Turnbull, who confirmed the plans.
While it's been vacant in recent years, the century-old structure was long home to Fieldens, a late-night club that was popular among the LGBTQ community from the late 1970s through the 2000s.
Turnbull bought the building last September for $800,000 and spent the following months plotting a historic tax-credit rehab. The structure totals around 14,000 square feet and includes a finished basement.
Turnbull, whose portfolio includes both of The Veil Brewing Co.'s local taprooms, said 2033 W. Broad St. will have nine apartments and 1,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
When asked what type of tenant he'd like to get for the commercial space, Turnbull said, "Anyone but a vape shop."
Architecture firm Ratio is designing the project and Smithcraft Construction is the general contractor. Work is underway, and Turnbull said he's aiming to have the project complete by the end of the year.
The 103-year-old building falls in the West Broad Street Industrial and Commercial Historic District, an area spanning the 1800 to 2100 blocks of West Broad and Marshall streets, according to data from the state's Department of Historic Resources. In the early 1900s, the area was initially highlighted by a showroom for the Atlantic Motor Co., but it's unclear exactly what 2033 W. Broad St. was used for in that era. DHR files describe the property as "among the more architecturally accomplished commercial buildings in the district."
Gary Fielden Edwards first opened the club there in 1977, according to his 2014 obituary, and Fieldens was quickly embraced by Richmond's queer community. Throughout the years it hosted a slew of eccentric events, including Hamaganza, a yearly fundraiser that was put on by the late Donnie Corker, more prominently known as drag queen Dirt Woman.
Fieldens was also where the Richmond Triangle Players was founded in 1993 and where the local LGBTQ theater company performed its plays for over 15 years before moving to 1300 Altamont Ave. in Scott's Addition in 2010.
Philip Crosby, the Triangle Players' executive director, described Fieldens as a "little bit of a wild place."
Philip Crosby
"What those walls saw would scare your grandmother," Crosby said. "It's a bit of a legendary building. Of course, everyone went there, but it was a gay-friendly space, which made it unique."
RTP was founded by Steve Earle, a local actor and director, who set out to put on LGBTQ-focused plays in 1993. Crosby said that at the time, Richmond was going through its own AIDS crisis and there was backlash against the gay community, making it difficult for Earle to find a venue.
Earle eventually connected with Fieldens manager Michael Gooding. As Crosby tells it, since Fieldens didn't open until midnight, Gooding told Earle that as long as they had their curtain call by 11 p.m., they could use Fieldens.
"That's how the theater company started to happen. It was a little bit of serendipity too, because it was a primarily gay club and we were a gay theater company," Crosby said. "It was a safe space for LGBTQ folks to gather and feel like you could be on a date with somebody, and nobody was going to mess with you, or you weren't going to feel out of place."
RTP operated at Fieldens through the '90s and early 2000s, performing in front of around 60 seats on the building's top floor, a space Crosby said was also used by drag queens at Fieldens.
"In the early days, we had to take up the set every single night that we were performing so that the queens had an empty space to perform in," he said.
But over the years, Crosby said, the building became untenable. Cigarette smoke and run-down bathrooms led RTP to begin running 90-minute, no-intermission plays, just to minimize guests' exposure to the space.
"We didn't allow smoking during our performances, but it didn't matter," he added. "I mean, you walked into the building and you had to dry clean everything you had on."
In 2010, the same year RTP held its first show at the Robert B. Moss Theatre in Scott's Addition, the owners of the Paper Moon strip clubs bought Fieldens and rebranded it as The Mansion and shifted the club's focus away from the gay community, per a Style Weekly report. The Mansion operated in the building for a few years but is now closed and the property has been vacant ever since.
Looking back, Crosby credits 2033 W. Broad St. as one of the factors that allowed RTP to grow into what it is today.
"It was a fascinating space," Crosby said. "I'm glad it's being taken over and turned into apartments, that's kind of fun."
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