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A liquor license application is in the works for the former Scandals space at 1125 SW Harvey Milk St. If everything goes according to plan, the former Scandals, which closed in 2025 after 46 years in business, will be known as Camp.
The application was first spotted by urbanist Iain MacKenzie.
Camp will be partly owned by Logan Whalen, owner of Best Coast Barber & Co., across the street. Whalen is the spokesman and declined to name his five other business partners. It’s still early in the process; Whalen hopes the commercial lease will go through by the end of the week, but it’s still with the lawyers.
The vision for the bar is much further along. The name is a reference to “campy”—think Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Birdcage—but also outdoor camping.
“It’s a double-entendre, and we’re planning to lean in to both,” Whalen says.
Business has been noticeably slower at the barbershop without Scandals to help anchor the historic gay corridor downtown, Whalen says. Scandals announced it was closing in August 2025, around the one-year anniversary of Best Coast Barber.
Whalen remembers 1990s Portland when there were numerous gay bars to choose from in the area. He feels a “sense of duty” to uphold the tradition of Scandals and the Three Sisters Tavern that occupied the space before that. Scandals East, a new location from former downtown Scandals owner David Fones, is now open at 827 NE Alberta St.
“It was important that we save the vibe of Scandals,” Whalen says. “It’s a neighborhood bar where everyone, gay or straight, feels welcome, though there’s no doubt it’s a gay bar.”
