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In the late 1960s, Steve Ostrow opened the Continental Baths at 230 West 74th Street in the basement of the Ansonia Hotel in New York City. Continental Baths was advertised as reminiscent of "the glory' of ancient Rome." A gay man with $15 could get both sex and entertainment at the Continental and know he was mixing with the beautiful people. The features of this bathhouse included a disco dance floor, a cabaret lounge, sauna rooms, an "Olympic blue" swimming pool, and could serve nearly 1, 000 men, 24 hours a day. One gay guide from the 1970s described the Continental Baths as a place that "revolutionized the bath scene in New York." Some features of the Continental Bathhouse included a warning system that tipped off patrons when police arrived. There were also a STD clinic, a supply of A200 (a lice-killing shampoo) in the showers and K-Y Jelly In the candy dispensing machine. An added attraction at the club was the first class entertainment provided by performers such as singer and actress Melba Moore, Jazz singer and band leader Cab Calloway, R&B group The Pointer Sisters among many, many others. Singer and comedienne Bette Midler began her career by performing there with Barry' Manilow in 1970. Due to her performances at the baths, Bette Midler earned the nickname Bathhouse Betty. ItÂ· was at the Continental, accompanied by pianist Barry Manilow, who, like the bathhouse patrons, sometimes wore only a white towel, that she created her stage persona the Divine Miss M.
Owned and operated - became fully-licensed, gay establishments which soon became major gay institutions. These bathhouses served as informal gay meeting places where friends could meet and relax. Gay bathhouses frequently threw parties for Pride Day and were usually open on public holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas when some gay men, particularly those who had been rejected by their families due to their sexual orientation, had nowhere to go.


Another service offered by the baths was voter registration. In the run-up to the 1980 election, the New St. Mark's Baths in New York City, with the assistance of the League of Women Voters, conducted a voter registration drive on its premises. Now move a bit into the future. Just two years ago, in 2006, local entrepreneur Chuck Fleck took the bathhouse operation to an unprecedented level when he opened FLEX Bathhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, with a $7 million budget. Chuck is well known for his FLEX Complex www.FlexBaths.com of bathhouses across the U.S. - Atlanta, Cleveland, Columbus, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Phoenix - and as the former owner of Cactus, 20th and Biscayne{ until he sold his property at quite a premium at the peak of the local condo boom in 2004.
	What he's created in Cleveland is a model for what he is bringing to Miami in the next year or so. It goes back to that old model of socialization, personal contact, sex information, shows, and sexual stimulation. During the AIDS crisis, bathhouses were the safest and most informative places you could go for informative places you could go for information! Yet once they shut the clubs down in San Francisco in 1984, New York followed in 1985. That was the biggest mistake local health organizations committed.

Wired-Up Media Carl Zablotny 2009

Windy City Media Group - Flex Baths Cleveland



	TRAVEL: CLEVELAND Bathhouse flexes its muscles Special to the Online Edition of Windy City Times by Ross Forman 2009-10-07



CLEVELAND Jason Wojnicz had just broken up with his high school sweetheart that spring day in 1999. They had been together for almost five years and were engaged to be married, but it just wasn't meant to be. Admittedly disparaged and broken-hearted, Wojnicz decided to "see what the gay side of my life was truly like." So Wojnicz, who was openly bisexual since he was 13, went to the Flex Bathhouse, then located here in downtown on 9th Street. "I was at the bathhouse for 45 minutes on a relatively quiet mid-week afternoon. I got freaked out and left, but, the very next day, I went back and applied for a job," said Wojnicz, now 32. He was immediately hired as a night-shift housekeeper, and later worked as a clerk, on its maintenance crew and in other areas Flash-forward to the present, and Wojnicz still is an integral part of Flex Hotel & Spa, now located on Hamilton Avenue near Cleveland State University. He is the assistant manager for this sprawling, multi-dimensional, clothing-optional gay funfest that encompasses more than 55,000 square feet and claims to the world's largest bathhouse. "I absolutely love this company," said Wojnicz, who is single and one of 17 full-time Flex employees. The facility has about 30 overall employees, including part-timers. Flex is an sprawling entertainment haven for the gay community, featuring pools, tanning beds, a weight room and much, much more. Just consider what's offered at Flex: Hotel accommodations, including a Presidential Suite that features a piano Traditional spa rooms with TV's for private viewing Indoor and outdoor pool 21-person whirlpool Steam room maze that spans 4,000 square-feet Eucalyptus vapor room Sauna High-temperature Russian sauna Entertainment lounge Free computers to use and free WI-FI 5,000 square-foot gym, which includes free-weight dumbbells up to 100 pounds State of the art tiered-seating theater Full kitchen and full bar, with a free daily buffet Parking for more than 200 vehicles "It's less of a [ traditional ] bathhouse and more of a community center. You'll find people who come here just to hang out," said Jerry Szoka, 47, who, since March, has been the facility's general manager. The busiest days are Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, followed closely by Sundays. Monday is the busiest day overall, mostly because Flex offers $1 locker rentals then. Flex averages about 300 patrons daily, with 800 on busy days. During their few peak periods annually, Flex has hosted more than 2,000. Customers range in age from 18 to 92, and Wojnicz said he has spotted patron's passports from Iran, Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia and Guam, among other exotic locales. "We've gotten a lot of press off the fact we are the world's largest bathhouse, but it's not something we've pushed of late," noted Wojnicz. "We're getting more international business now [ than in the past ] , particularly from Asian countries." The Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend ( CLAW ) in late April draws the biggest crowds annually to Flex, followed by Cleveland Pride, and three traditional holidays: Memorial Day, Labor Day and New Year's Eve. Cleveland is one of three finalists, along with Washington D.C. and Boston, to host the Gay Games IX in 2014â??and Flex officials anxiously away the late-Sept. announcement by the Federation of Gay Games ( FGG ) . "We're salivating," for the announcement, Szoka said. "We can't wait for it to come to town." But to Cleveland, commonly called the Armpit of America? Yes, to Cleveland, Szoka said. "Some people like armpits," he added, laughing. Wojnicz stresses that there is plenty more to Cleveland, such as its art community, walking paths, bicycle riding paths, horse-riding trails, museums galore, an incredible zoo, exotic ethnic food and, of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. "Clevelanders give Cleveland a bad rap. If you're from Cleveland, you spend most of your life trying to get out. And the moment that you do get out, you're doing everything possible to not come back," Wojnicz said. "Winter is very harsh. The only place that has a worse winter is Buffalo. The amount of snow that we get here is incredible." That, perhaps, explained why winter is the slowest time at Flex. Summer, on the other hand, is hot, literally. The place then often is crammed, ideal for cruising. Flex officials have been trying hard to erase the evil bathhouse image. "The sleaze factor â?Š we've done what we can to remove the stigma of the bathhouse [ name ] . This is not a two-stall shower with four lockers," Wojnicz said. "We've abolished and removed the icky. We keep this place immaculately clean. We've even removed the name bathhouse; we are the Flex Hotel & Spa." Wojnicz said the only bathhouses he knows that even remotely compare with Flex are Steamworks Chicago and Steamworks Toronto. And while most other bathhouses commonly offer 8-hour locker rentals, Flex goes for 12-hours. "Many people use this place as a safe haven," Szoka said. The building Flex now calls home was a former Greyhound bus facility, built in 1939, and there are many original items from the Greyhound era, such as wood paneling in some rooms, a sink in one of the bath rooms and the Greyhound dog logo on two doors. And the old oil pits from the Greyhound era? They are now the indoor pools. "We pride ourselves on being the friendliest bathhouse in the state of Ohio, and the cleanest," Wojnicz said. Flex is one of two bathhouses in Cleveland, and one of about 10 in Ohio. "We often have businessmen stay here as opposed to local [ name-brand ] hotels," Wojnicz said, noting that rooms are half-price from 8 p.m. Sunday through 8 p.m. on Thursday. That means the Presidential Suite carries a low $120 nightly price tag. Flex will be expanding over the next year or so, added a Glory Hole Maze Room, among other novelties. Flex has played host to theater productions and also has a rental space available for local LGBT groups. Not bad for a former abandoned building that was partially cleaned back when Flex purchased it by the same homeless people who had been living there. Now, Flex offers the only rooftop beach at a bathhouse in the state of Ohio. And its outdoor pool is kept at 90 degrees year-round, while its indoor pool is a comfy 85 degrees. "The community was really anticipating the return of Flex after the original location closed," before this facility opened, Wojnicz said. "I think the community really likes the current Flex." And the world should too. by Ross Forman 2009-10-07 See www.flexclub.com

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