#places/hide-n-seek

Hide-n-Seek

Hide 'n' Seek Logo.png[1]
Dates operating: 1969 - 2004 [2][3]
Location: 512 W Colorado Ave Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Website: Welcome To H&S (down by 2010)

Description:

"Hide N Seek, specifically, has a history of being a hidden haven for the LGBTQ+ community..."[4]

"The complex known as Hide n' Seek has been operating for decades and today offers club music and disco with a western theme and a welcoming gay community. Local gay residents frequent the bar on a routine basis while out of town guests travel from all over Colorado and outlying areas to visit the venue. The party never ends at Hide n' Seek. The club welcomes crowds by the hundreds. On weekends lines have been seen to stretch for two blocks with guests wanting to dance the night away and experience a culture like no other. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the club welcomed such musicians as Donna Summer, The Village People, and Helen Reddy. Today live DJs are on set every night. The complex spreads over 5,000 square feet and features a restaurant, lesbian club, sports bar, leather bar, and main bar with a theatre. At 2 am the club stops the service of alcohol and opens up as a dance club for ages 16 and above until 5 am. Gays and straights are both welcome."[5]

Frequently visited after The Annex.[6] Also included a downstairs portion for country music, called "It's Country." [7]

History

In January 1972, Joe Brady and Tom Gehling purchased The Colorado Grill, which would later become the Hide 'n' Seek, originally located at 3 Colorado Ave. In the mid-1970's the bar moved to 512 W. Colorado Ave. The 5,000-foot building included a restaurant, lesbian club, sports bar, country bar, and leather bar. [8]

Business at the Hide & Seek went way down following the AIDS epidemic, according to owner Joe Brady.

The bar held over one hundred funerals for members of the local gay community, including the funeral of co-founder Tom Gehling in 2003.[8:1]

The business had to close partially due to fire code violations in 2004. (Did it continue beyond that?)[9]

Photos

Gayspeak - February 1982 - Hide-n-Seek Ad.jpg An ad from the February 1982 issue of GAYSPEAK Gayspeak - June 1982 - Hide-n-Seek History.jpg Interview with Joe and Tommy from the June 1982 issue of GAYSPEAK
Hide 'n' Seek - Bob Myers.png 392-532 - Hide-n-Seek-Inside.jpg
A rare photo of the inside of the club, published in the article "Out of the closet; Gays seek acceptance in conservative community."

Photo 1[^]
Photo 2[10]
Photo 3 [11]
Photo 4

Anecdotes

"Worked at The Annex, their under 21 bar. It supposedly went straight, never could. At the time, Joe & Tommy from H&S seemed like bad parents who never put $ into the bar; but as an adult, I respect them SO MUCH for the community they created. The Pride Parade went from the parking lot for the H&S to Colorado Ave. In such a conservative, mall church, nationalism mistaken for patriotism military midwest town, that was fkng BRAVE. To be out? In the 70s? We’re not talking NYC. Incredibly strong willed to accept the consequences of being yourself, and they had ppl driving over from other states b/c that bar was RARE. In the 80s, Joe & Tommy opened a hostel for AIDS pts abandoned by friends & family. I admire them both, very much." - Reddit User BrazenDoll [12]

Points of Continued Research

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References

  1. Facebook ↩︎

  2. Harden, Kari. “‘It Is a Mecca’: Club Q Patrons Mourn Violation of a Place That Felt like Home.” The Guardian, 29 Nov. 2022. US News. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/29/club-q-colorado-springs-lgbtq-community. ↩︎

  3. Pikes Peak Gay Community Center, Gayspeak, vol. 4, no. 6 (June 1982). PPLD Digital Collections, accessed 16/01/2026, https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/998838 ↩︎

  4. Vitatoe, Aaron. “Growing Up Gay: Colorado Springs Business Owner Reflects on Coming out in the 1990s, a Transformative Time for the LGBTQ+ Community.” Https://Www.Kktv.Com, 8 June 2025, https://www.kktv.com/2025/06/08/growing-up-gay-colorado-springs-business-owner-reflects-coming-out-1990s-transformative-time-lgbtq-community/. ↩︎

  5. Hide n’ Seek - Colorado Springs, CO - Gay Dance Complex That Has Welcomed the Village People and Donna Summer_. https://www.city-data.com/articles/Hide-n-Seek-Colorado-Springs-CO-Gay.html. Accessed 22 Nov. 2025 ↩︎

  6. Tamera. “Colorado Springs Daily Photo: Hide and Seek.” Colorado Springs Daily Photo, 7 Feb. 2012, https://csdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2012/02/hide-and-seek.html. ↩︎

  7. “Gayspeak, April 1988.” Pikes Peak Gay Community Center, 11 Apr. 1988, Pikes Peak Library District Special Collections, 0461 Pride Center Box 5, Folder 9. ↩︎

  8. Patrons of gay bar gather to honor life of co-founder: Thomas Gehling 1944 | 2004 (2003-08-14). PPLD Digital Collections, accessed 08/01/2026, https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/664679 ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. Fire-code violations halt 32-year-old gay club; Closure unrelated to sexual orientation, marshal says_ (2004-12-11). PPLD Digital Collections, accessed 31/12/2025, https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/1008549 ↩︎

  10. Pikes Peak Gay Community Center, Gayspeak, vol. 4, no. 6 (June 1982). PPLD Digital Collections, accessed 12/01/2026, https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/998838 ↩︎

  11. Redirect Notice ↩︎

  12. Memories of Hide n Seek in the 90s… - r/ColoradoSpringsLGBTQ ↩︎ ↩︎