New gay video dance bar set to replace the vacant Tronix in Reno

Updated at 5 p.m. Jan. 19 with interview with the owners of Splash

A California-based gay bar and nightclub company filed a permit with the city of Reno to rebuild Tronix Video Music Club into the new Splash Video Dance Bar.

Tronix opened 14 years ago on Kietzke Lane and Mill Street then closed in 2015. People still talk about the parties and relationships started there. At the time, Splash was prepared to take over the bar, but was delayed due to the new ownership's family loss, according to a letter to the city.

This month, Splash renewed its permit to move forward with reopening the bar and nightclub. Splash already created some Reno social media accounts and website. The owner operated Splash and Badlands locations in Sacramento for 20 years and is opening in Modesto and Fresno, California and Portland too.

Tronix, previously called Neutron and Visions, operated as a nightclub since 1967 and closed in 2015 in large part due to its lack of separation between under-21 section and over 21-section, according to interviews in Therenogaypage.com at the time. The former owners also told Therenogaypage in 2015 that the LGBTQ community's ongoing acceptance and integration into straight spaces started to make gay bars obsolete.

New owner TJ Bruce said he's less worried about the changing demand for bars geared specifically toward gay customers and will keep the new venue 21 and over only.

“When I got into the bar business there was no internet; there was no 'Grindrs' and all this stuff," Bruce said. "When you went into the bar it was default business seven days a week. And that went on for 10 years. The last 10 years you’ve just had to shift gears. If you don’t shift gears you end up like Borders."

Bruce said he tries to plan something for every night of the week at his bars and brings in local DJs, drag queen shows, karaoke, trivia nights and entertainers to keep customers coming back. It's important to also make sure people know Splash is a bar meant for the LGBTQ community.

"If you want to be a gay bar, it’s important to establish that and make that evident to everyone," he said.

Bruce said the themes and decor matter but pop music with a lot of throwbacks to appeal to different generations matters more. Ultimately, he said it's important to make a bar where people want to hang out and interact instead of just meeting up through apps.

"People will inevitably want social contact regardless of how many internet programs there are," he said. "It’s not something where there’s a meat rack but we all want contact so I think it’s why people still go to gay bars."

Splash does not plan to change the building or site layout dramatically. Bruce said they've already done interior work on the old Tronix, changed out furniture and added video screens inside. He plans to open it in spring, pending a permit from the city.

Mike Higdon is the city life reporter at the RGJ and can be found on Instagram @MillennialMike, on Facebook at Mike Higdon, Reno Life and on Twitter @MikeHigdon.

Corrections made to Splash's current locations on the West coast.