Rainbow Lounge to reopen in new location

FORT WORTH, Texas - Customers of a popular gay nightclub will be moving to a new location in Fort Worth.

The owners of the Rainbow Lounge are converting a warehouse near the hospital district into a new club. It is a few blocks north of the original Rainbow Lounge that was destroyed by a fire last month.

The Rainbow Lounge was put in the national spotlight in 2009 and became a symbol of change for LGBT rights. A confrontation erupted involving Fort Worth police and TABC agents during a raid. One man got a head injury and five others were arrested. Following an investigation, two TABC agents were fired and three Fort Worth officers were suspended.

After the fire, the man who leased the building to the nightclub said he had no plans to rebuild, especially with rising property values in the area just south of downtown.

The cause of that fire is still under investigation but firefighters suspect it was a faulty air conditioning unit or ice machine inside the building.