Last week, The New Fillmore reported that Lion Pub (2062 Divisadero St.) has closed after 48 years of doing business in Pacific Heights. The bar's owner, Kelly Ellis, has died after a long battle with illness, prompting the closure.

The bar, which originally opened in 1968, enjoyed a period of success as a gay fern bar in the 1970s. However, according to a Bay Area Reporter article from last year, its clientele has shifted a great deal over the course of its tenure on Divisadero Street.

It was once part of a trifecta of Pacific Heights gay bars, which also included Alta Plaza (2301 Fillmore St.) and J.J.'s Piano Bar (2225 Fillmore St.) But over the years, Ellis told the BAR, the gay clientele shifted to more preppy, and then more leather-forward. "We've gone from preppy bar to a dance bar to a hippie bar to leather and back to preppy."

While still gay-owned, for at least the past decade or so, the Lion Pub has been dominated by a straight clientele. Now that the establishment has closed, the direction any new business might take for the space remains unknown. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.