For HG Rooster’s, May 19 marks both devastation and rebirth.

A fire destroyed the longtime West Palm Beach LGBTQ bar on May 19, 2020. Exactly five years later, the business reopened — a symbolic return for one of Palm Beach County’s most recognizable queer gathering spaces.

Now, one year after reopening, owner A.J. Wasson says the past year has been about finally watching people enjoy the space again.

“It feels good,” Wasson said. “The last six years of my life — five years were spent trying to bring this community asset back to life.”

Rooster’s is also marking the anniversary with a full week of themed events celebrating both the reopening and the venue’s long LGBTQ history. 

Programming includes trivia on Tuesday; gay anthems from Jennifer McClain on Wednesday; dancers on Thursday; Lip Sync on Friday; dinner and a show hosted by Melissa St. John on Saturday; and the return of karaoke on Sunday. 

“We are excited and honored to be a part of LGBTQ history here in West Palm Beach,” said St. John, who has been working as the bar’s entertainment director since 2009. But even long before that she had been hosting fundraisers at the bar. 

Wasson said one of the biggest surprises since reopening has been Rooster’s new kitchen.

“I gotta harken back to the food,” Wasson said. “I never thought that we would get more destination people.”

The rebuilt Rooster’s now features a full kitchen, monthly brunches, and an expanded menu that has quickly developed a following of its own. Wasson said the bar will soon roll out an updated menu featuring some of the kitchen’s most popular specials from the past year.

Wasson rattled off favorites ranging from chicken tenders to chicken and waffles and rotating chef specials.

“We don’t have a microwave at Rooster’s,” he said. “Everything’s got to be fresh.”

The brunches — held the last Sunday of every month — now regularly draw both LGBTQ patrons and straight allies.

“It spreads that message of unity and love throughout the community,” Wasson said.

Getting Rooster’s back open, however, was far more difficult than Wasson originally imagined.

In 2020, as the country shut down due to the pandemic, Wasson made the decision to continue paying employees, but also let his insurance lapse. Two months later, the building caught fire due to oily rags that had been left around.

“...in all probability, the compilation of soiled rags containing an unknown amount of multiple chemicals, spontaneously ignited, which then caused the smoldering of the surrounding material,” the fire report reads.

At the time, Wasson told the South Florida Gay News, “We will rebuild. My outlook is good. I’m just overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we’ve been shown.”

What followed was a five-year rebuilding process that eventually cost roughly $2.5 million.

Without insurance coverage, the rebuilding effort relied on personal funds, a $1 million loan, city assistance, and a GoFundMe campaign launched after the fire.

“Every time we touched something, more stuff had to be done,” Wasson said in a 2024 interview with OutSFL. “Everything was crumbling. There was termite damage. I kept thinking ‘what the hell am I doing.’”

But stories from customers kept him moving forward.

“It’s the first place I could bring my mom to meet my gay friends,” Wasson recalled hearing from patrons.

For Wasson, that reinforced that Rooster’s represented more than nightlife.

“It was more than just a business or a bar that we were reopening,” he said. “It was a special place for so many people.”

The legacy of the address stretches back far beyond Rooster’s. 

The 823 Belvedere Road location has operated as an entertainment venue since shortly after Prohibition ended in 1933 and has welcomed LGBTQ patrons in various forms for decades, according to the establishment. In the 1960s, the space operated as “My Apartment,” a private lesbian key club. It later became Turf West in the 1970s before Rooster’s opened in 1984. In 2021, Rooster’s was added to West Palm Beach’s register of historic places — a rare distinction for an LGBTQ bar.

In 1946, a phone directory dubbed the location “the gayest spot in town” — a reputation Rooster’s still proudly carries nearly 80 years later.