There was a time in 2020 when Jim Clarke, general manager of Midtowne Spa in Denver, felt like the business may never open their doors again.
“They weren’t prepared to be closed this long. So, they were kind of, like, really freaking out. I tell you what; it’s lucky we made it, ‘cuz I thought for sure when they laid us off the second time, and things were getting bleak, I thought that it was over,” Clarke says.
Clarke sat down with OFM days before reopening their Denver location, which officially opened doors June 4 with limited hours of 11 a.m. to 3 a.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Midtowne Spa closed on March 15, 2020.
Clarke notes their main competition, Denver Swim Club, will not be reopening. OFM attempted to reach out to Denver Swim Club multiple times with no response. Clarke says they had tried to open up in the middle of the pandemic, and the Denver Department of Public Health had to close them down. “I guess they decided it was too much for them, so they closed.”
Clarke had just received notice about three weeks prior to reopening that they were allowed, under the pretense of verifying vaccination cards and noting vaccination statuses in spa-goers’ profiles before allowing anyone inside. Once vaccination status is verified, masks are not required at the spa.
Clarke says the spa has partnered with Denver Public Health for a long time, and he has already worked to ensure they are running five, four-hour shifts a week to offer STD testing and resources for attendees upon reopening. In addition, they have always supplied free condoms and have a strict policy against unprotected sex, enforcing procedures for a first warning followed by a life ban for people who do not comply.
Clarke also notes their strict policy against drug-use and the new conversations surrounding it as they reopen
“Our competitor, and I’m not saying bad things about them, but they were a little more lenient, which was a good thing for us because the people that we 86 for drugs really can’t come back forever,” Clarke says. When spa-goers use alcohol or cannabis, they are temporarily 86’ed, though anything harder will result in a lifetime ban, from both the Denver and Los Angeles spa locations.
Clarke anticipates they will see an influx in folks who have been previously banned for drug use and plans to enforce the same regulations to keep their space drug-free. He says anyone is free to plead their case if they are now drug-free or can prove they will abide by the spa’s policies going forward.
Midtowne is still a gay men’s club, but Clarke says he looks at opportunities to make Midtowne accessible for all people to enjoy. For one, where they used to have rules against letting in transmasculine people and men without a ‘male’ gender marker on their IDs; they now allow any person who presents and identifies as male in, regardless of the ID’s gender marker.
Clarke also notes that they intend to bring back masked Panorama Parties, open to people of all genders. The party had initially had major success in Los Angeles, and Clarke noted it was a struggle to get them going in Denver.
“[Clarke’s boss], from the get-go, said no. And then two years went by, and he asked me again, and I said that one again, and he’s like, ‘No.’ And then he sadly passed away in 2016. And then I got a new boss, and he immediately came to me and said, ‘Do you have any other party ideas?’ So, evidently my old boss and him never spoke about it together—the idea—to him. He said, ‘Yeah, let’s try that,’” Clarke says. “So we’ve had about seven of them … They are super popular. We have a line out the door around the block to get the party started at 9:00, and we’re completely at capacity at 9:00.”
It might take some time for these and other events to return, as Clarke and the crew are still monitoring the opening at limited hours, their staffing needs, and gauging profits before expanding. Clarke is eager to welcome Denver spa-goers back and encourages people who have been previously 86’ed, and feel it should be lifted, to open up the conversation.
“If you feel like you’ve been 86’ed for a wrong reason, or it’s something stupid—’cuz I mean, things, like I said, if it’s drugs, if it’s theft, somebody breaks into a locker or somebody’s room or steals, or violence … those are permanent 86. See what happens is sometimes, you know, somebody will do something stupid in the room … I don’t want them to feel like they’re 86’ed for life for doing something that they probably don’t even know what they did to be 86’ed.”
Clarke expects a lot to shift in the coming months for Midtowne Spa and says they will be looking to bulk up their staff soon. Now, he just wants to ensure that anyone who missed their presence knows Midtowne Spa is eager to welcome them in.
“There’d be rumors, you know, people say, ‘Oh, they were sold or they’re closing,’ or, ‘They’re doing this, that’ … We want to welcome everyone back. We realize that we’re the only game in town right now.”
