By Rick Steelhammer | The Charleston Gazette | Feb. 4, 2010

Quarrier Diner

An art deco landmark in downtown Charleston since it opened in 1946, the popular restaurant seated 300 customers, operating from before dawn to long after dark until it closed in 1999. Since then, it has been looked at as a site for a new Kanawha County Library and the locale for a proposed FBI office building, among other developments.

Photo by Ron Dylewski

Battle said an experienced investor is interested in buying the diner and reopening it as a restaurant, if it can be saved from being converted into a site for an office building.

Robert Sheets, who operated the Tap Room bar in the Quarrier Diner's basement for 10 years after the upstairs dining facility closed, said the secluded pub, which opened in 1947, may be the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the nation. "It's a place where people felt safe," Sheets said. "If they went somewhere else, they would be persecuted."

From meetings in the Tap Room, such organizations as West Virginia Pride and the Metropolitan Community Church got their start, Sheets said. "There's a hidden history there, and it should be saved -- it's something we all should be proud of," he said. "By respecting history, we respect each other more."

Originally published online here:

http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201002040672