safari club estacada closed

Where should the PDX resurrection of the Safari Club go*??

* Because it's a potential dealbreaker, it's worth pointing out that the Club owner also stated that "My animals are coming with me."

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Safari Club owner to open retail store in Oak Grove

• Updated: May. 12, 2013, 11:10 a.m. |
• Published: May. 12, 2013, 10:10 a.m.
• Michael Bamesberger | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Safari Club owner Cindy Smith and manager Betsy Clester don’t want the legend to die.

Mounting maintenance and repair costs, as well as a lack of customers, forced the two to close the Estacada restaurant in March, about a year and a half after it reopened as the Legendary Safari Club.

It’s was the latest in a long line of ups and downs for the restaurant, which in its heyday in the 1970s and ’80s, attracted crowds from across the Portland area to dine and dance in the company of lions, bears, cougars and other stuffed beasts – trophies of founder Glen Park’s big-game hunts.

Beginning in the late ’80s, a changing economy and a succession of owners transformed the club: After Estacada permitted social gambling in 1988, police raided the club’s cardroom and briefly shut down the restaurant. In 2003, a new owner changed its name to Hong’s Chinese Restaurant. All the while, the building and animals fell into disrepair.

Smith purchased the club in September 2011 and reopened as the Legendary Safari Club, hoping to revive the "magical place" she once knew. But in March 2013, it closed once more .

Still holding tight to the club’s name, Smith and Clester hatched the idea for a Safari Club retail store. They soon cleared a space in the entrance of Pioneer Auction Gallery, the auction house they own together on Oak Grove Boulevard near Milwaukie.

When it opens on May 15, the store will offer purses, jewelry, antiques, animal skulls, taxidermy and other oddities. The bears, monkeys, lions and other animals that line the space aren’t Glen Park’s famous trophies, however; they’re animals Smith purchased years ago to display in the club.

Most of the taxidermy pieces not for sale. They’ll be needed to fill a new Safari Club restaurant in Southeast Portland, Milwaukie or the Oak Grove area when the time is right, Clester said.

“We’re still looking around,” Clester said. “We just haven’t found the perfect spot yet.”

Before purchasing the Safari Club, Smith and Clester owned auction companies in Oak Grove and Oregon City, an eBay store and a coffee shop.

“Cindy is constantly dragging me from one thing to the next,” Clester said, laughing.

The business partners are still in the process of moving furniture and decor out of the famous green-thatched building in Estacada before the lease ends in October. The last they heard, the landlord planned to auction off the animals.

“We just don’t want the Safari Club to die, because, you know, it’s legendary,” Clester said.

-- Michael Bamesberger

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Legendary Safari Club

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Kristi in Dinner , Drink & Dessert , Food // 0 Comments

“Who wants to drive 50 miles into BFE with me to look at some dead animals?!?!” Thank goodness I have friends who reply: “Sure! When shall I pick you up?”

So a couple weeks ago, off we went to Estacada, Oregon. Of course the real question is, why do I want to go to Estacada on a Friday night?  To visit the Legendary Safari Club!

It’s LEGEN-wait for it-DARY (as NPH would say). I know… I know.. I’m a huge nerd.

After about an hour, winding through the backroads of Clackamas County, we rolled up in front of the bar at 11pm. Outside there were huge window displays, much like you’d see in a department store, but these were full of animals ripping each other to pieces.

We had not even taken taken a sip of beer before two separate people proclaimed “you girls aren’t from around here, are you?” All of them, amazed we would drive out just to see this bar. But for me and Emmi, it was totally worth it.

I mean look at this place. It’s like a dusty version of the Museum of Natural History. Lions, tigers & bears, oh my!

The place is actually really big, most of the walls are lined with huge diorama display cases. Can you call life size animals a diorama?  I’m going to.

We kept switching tables so we could get closer looks at each animal display, while everyone else celebrated a 40th birthday and danced. One of the locals told us that the only reason people from Estacada go to the Safari Club is for birthdays because its so big.  If this is the crappy bar in Estacada, maybe we should go back to see the other ones, they much be amazing!

While all the dead animals really SHOULD have bothered me, the only thing that really did, was this giant elephant head. I’m not even sure it’s real… It seemed out of place and poorly lit for such a huge trophy, but based on the rest of the bar I’m guessing it is.  It just seems especially sad, they didn’t even have the decency to stage it in a violent fight with another beast.

After a couple Bud Lights we decided it was time to hit the road.  It was late and we had a long drive back. I would definitely go back. Maybe not just for fun on a Friday night, but if I’m headed out  camping or maybe looking for a Christmas Tree I’ll  totally make a stop.

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Vintage Roadside® - the blog

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Vintage roadside visits: the safari club.

We hope that you enjoy your visit in this unique club and further hope that you, your family and friends return time and time again. This is the only one of its type in the world today. It is owned by Park Enterprises and is managed by Mike Park.

This collection of outstanding trophies in this club was taken on 23 different hunting expeditions to six different countries through the world over a period of six years. The majority of trophies taken by world-renowned big game hunter Glen Park have now been entered in the World Record Books. Glen Park is the most active and outstanding hunter in the United States today.

It was Glen Park's idea to share these outstanding, beautiful trophies with the local citizenry by building a unique safari club."

5 comments:

Okay, that is just bizarre! Kitch, retro, maybe could even pass for swanky in Estacada, OR, ha! Yes, I believe we'll need to return for a tour of that interior--did you look into the restaurant and are there animals in there as well? The sign is definately classic!

Just found your blog after I checked your profile on Facebook. Very nice. I'll visit often. You might enjoy mine at www.aftonstationblog-laurel.blogspot.com Laurel On Route 66 in Afton, OK

Hi Tina - Sorry I missed your comment! We did look in the restaurant and it looked to be completely taxidermy-free. Laurel - Really glad you found us. Thanks for all your hard work out there in Afton!

I am Purchasing & Renovating the Safari Club - Enjoyed your Blog & the Photos! New Menu & NEW ANIMALS being added SOON!!

Cindy - Wow! That's great news. Can you contact us directly at info (at) vintageroadside (dot) com - we've got some other news about the club we'd love to share with you.

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RoadsideAmerica.com Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions

Attraction:

Estacada, Oregon : Safari Club - Animals Attack! (Closed)

Dozens of stuffed animals, reportedly all shot by the original owner. Known by locals as "The Dead Zoo." Closed in 2013, looking for Portland location to move to.

Legendary Safari Club Restaurant

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Visitor Tips and News About Safari Club - Animals Attack!

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The Safari Club is getting a new owner who is renovating it and bringing it back to its rightful glory! New menu and new animals are coming!

There's a grand re-opening at the end of September.

The Safari Club is still alive and well! Now owned by an Asian family, all the game trophies are still in-house, with only some available for viewing depending on whether or not the whole bar is open (usually the weekends are when the dance floor, band area, and bar are all access).

My uncle Fritz Jordan, a local contractor, was good friends with the original owner of the Safari Club. Fritz and his good friend would go on hunting expeditions to various locations bringing back animal trophies. Due to their extensive hunts, the Safari Club became a "showplace-warehouse" to display the growing collection of animals. My uncle Fritz died approximately 20 years ago. The Safari Club still stands to this day with an amazing collection of exotic animals for all to enjoy.

I'd heard the same rumors about the taxidermied trophy animals being shipped off to Washington (Tacoma, not Seattle was the story I heard from a bartender in 2005) but we were just there and the front windows and main bar area and stage area were still the same.

The back room -- that's also full of taxidermied animals -- was almost always closed to the public (I've only seen it once) and it was closed this time as well. Perhaps those were the animals being transferred.

The animals are all (or mostly) still there. It is just that the new owner is selling this incredibly amazing collection of wild animals off very slowly. For a bar, it is one of the strangest out there, and its history is one of the strangest. Once upon a time, the 1990's surf band Satan's Pilgrims filmed a rock video there.

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