Through a blurry windowpane, gnarled metal statues lurk on a fenced-in lawn. Cars whiz up and down Vandeventer, and the stoplight changes. Inside, a poster with a political message about the AIDS quilt is placed prominently on the wall, facing a cluttered desk.

The view from the upstairs offices of Magnolia’s Restaurant and Bar is one that few Saint Louis University students have seen. The vantage point is foreign because Magnolia’s, unlike the other bars that surround campus, does not cater to the college crowd. For the past 17 years, its clientele has been the gay, transgender and lesbian community of the city of St. Louis.

The bar complex is labyrinthine and extends along Vandeventer. All of the establishments are under the same ownership and include the Niner Diner (a restaurant), the V bar (a lesbian bar), and a leather shop. Within Magnolia’s are a cabaret, a martini bar, a casual “jeans” bar and a disco.

When asked if SLU students ever venture into the bars, John Knowles, one of the owners, said, “We get a few grad students. A lot of the time it’s straights and gays coming in together.” But most of the time, SLU students don’t frequent the eclectic d?cor of Magnolia’s bars.

Knowles said that the building is identical to the building that houses Culpepper’s restaurant in the Central West End. A tour through the building revealed old, narrow stairways and brightly painted rooms, like a shocking, lime-green nook with matching curtains encircling a small bar.

Portraits of drag queens line the hall that leads to a small dressing room. A quiet, makeup-less man acknowledges our entrance into his prep room, then Knowles leads the way to the cabaret room. Standing on the painted black catwalk in the half-light of the afternoon, it is still difficult not to strike a pose. The red walls with paper sconces scream the potential of the room, campy and deep, with the runway stretching far into the small space for tables.

Performances in the cabaret bring out a mixed crowd, according to Knowles. “Straight, gay, the older crowd and girls,” all show up to watch the comedy act on Wednesday nights, and the drag shows on Fridays and Saturdays.

One of the oldest and largest gay bars in St. Louis, Magnolia’s has been relatively unaffected by the expansion of SLU. A hub of social activity, especially for the older homosexual community, the bar also hosts charity events.

Although the SLU crowd generally steers away from the eclectic cluster of bars around Magnolia’s on Vandeventer, the owners still meet with the SLU Department of Public Safety every other month to discuss security issues. Knowles said of Midtown, “I usually consider it very safe.” He gestured toward SLU and added, “You’ve got those security guards riding around 24 hours a day.”