Bay City Sauna, Melbourne’s Oldest Gay Sauna, Announces It Is Closing Down In December 2022
starobserver.com.auOne of Australia’s oldest and longest running gay saunas, the Bay City Sauna located on Glen Huntly Road in the inner Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick, will close down at the end of December 2022.“We have been informed by our landlord that the construction of the slab may be compromised due to the age of the building,” Shane Gardiner, General Manager, WP van der Linden Pty Ltd, told Star Observer.
Last week, the sauna had posted on social media that it was closing for maintenance from October 10, 2022.“Sadly it has come to the end of its life and the landlord has been concerned about the weight from all the equipment.
So we’ve decided we’re going to quit the premises because we need to be in a building that’s built properly when you’re on the first level,” said Gardiner.“We would like to thank all our wonderful customers for their patronage over the 60 years it has been in operation,” said Gardiner.
Bay City Sauna opened in 1962 under the name of Club Spa Caulfield. According to Gardiner, it was Victoria’s, and possibly Australia’s, first gay sauna.
