‘Loud, proud and courageous,’ this landmark gay bar will close in Garden City
A landmark nightclub building in Garden City with a lengthy history will be closed again.
Somewhere Bar, 3544 W. Chinden Blvd., plans to shut its doors at the end of business Saturday, it announced on Facebook. Somewhere opened in the vacant space in 2021, describing itself as “Boise’s only gay owned LGBTQIA+ community bar.”
No reason was given for the closure. But thanking customers in a note on social media, the bar proclaimed, “we have been loud, proud and courageous. That’s not going to change.”
Many Idahoans remember the property as the longtime home of the Ranch Club. With a familiar large horse atop the building, it’s a familiar sight on Chinden.
For decades, that rearing stallion has reminded passing motorists of the nightclub’s past. In 1949, the building was transported to Garden City in pieces from New Plymouth. The Ranch Club opened the following year. It had slot machines until gambling was made illegal in 1953.
Famously — at least to Idaho film buffs — a scene in Clint Eastwood’s 1980 movie “Bronco Billy” was filmed in front of the Ranch Club.
After fading into dive bar status, the Ranch Club was remodeled and reopened in 2017 as an outlaw country bar with live music. But that closed about a year and a half later. The Ranch Club changed owners once again, reopened again — and then shuttered for good in 2020 until Somewhere Bar took over the space in 2021.
This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 2:14 PM.