The Hunt and The Chase

The Hunt and the Chase dance club, known locally as The Chase, was an LGBTQ+ bar located at 107 S. Pennsylvania Street in downtown Indianapolis. With 10,000 square feet of space, The Chase held a reputation as Indianapolis’s premier multi-story disco, setting it apart from the single-floor LGBTQ+ bars more typical of the era. Modeling itself on the multi-floored discos in New York City, The Chase spanned three floors of Indianapolis’s historic Schrader Building and inspired the emergence of the Talbott Street Disco (later Talbott Street Nightclub), another of Indianapolis’s large disco halls.

Indianapolis businessman Fred Cooney opened The Chase in 1975. Bargoers found three floors to explore, one of which was a large disco floor with mirror-lined walls and a state-of-the-art sound system. The club’s customer base was largely composed of men and weekly drag revues were the norm. In 1981, Cooney opened Trophies Pizza & Sandwiches restaurant on the first floor.

The Chase gained a local and national reputation as a premier disco club. Blueboy, a national gay men’s magazine, named The Chase as one of the top ten discos in the United States. From 1979 to 1982, Cleo Brasher, owner of the Miss Gay Indiana Pageant, selected the club as the site of the state-level pageant that led to the Miss Gay America Pageant.

During its lifetime, The Chase supported Indianapolis’s LGBTQ+ businesses and worked to foster better relations between the LGBTQ+ community and the city’s law enforcement officials. Cooney funded the Gay People’s Union of Indiana and, along with bar manager Michael Bohr, formed the Greater Indianapolis Gay Business Association (GIGBA). He encouraged the latter to conduct its monthly meetings at The Chase and the local gay businesses community to support new and existing gay companies. The Chase also strengthened the relationship between the Indianapolis Police Department and the gay community during a time when police harassment of individuals at gay bars and public cruising areas was common.

Despite its popularity, Cooney closed The Chase on Labor Day of 1982. Observers of the LGBTQ+ nightlife scene speculated that competition from the Talbott Street Disco, opened in 1980, contributed to The Chase’s closure. Cooney went on to open Rollerland Rolling Rink in 1982, then pursued a career in real estate and listed the Schrader Building for sale. Until he found a buyer in July 1984, Cooney sporadically opened the club on weekends even after its official closure date.