on the scene
from May 2006

The latest addition to Leeds’ gay scene is the arrival, right in the centre of the city’s ‘gay village’ of The Basement Sauna Complex - owned by the people behind the infamous one in Manchester.

Although much smaller than its Mancunian sister, the Leeds Basement has clearly had a lot of thought and money poured into it.

Situated in one of the railway arches opposite Queens Court - and alongside Mission and Arch 54 - it’s ‘small but perfectly formed’.

The ground floor houses the changing rooms, steam room, two jacuzzis, toilets and cafeteria area, whilst the upper floor, with its curved brick ceiling, holds the ‘rest rooms’ and video areas.

It’s amazing how much they’ve packed in to such a small space.

Darren Cliff, the venue manager, told us: ‘Leeds gay scene seems quite small at the moment, and I think it seemed like it was an up-and-coming area to open a new sauna. I was the duty manager over in Manchester, next in line to John [Hudson, the manager], and I was only coming over here temporarily, but as it turned out, I got the venue manager’s job.’

The place is clean, bright and modern (although you might expect that from somewhere that’s only been opened a couple of weeks!) and the cafeteria area is turning into something of a social centre already.

Despite its newness, the development of the place is ongoing, with plans for more comfy seating, a vending machine. The only obvious downside is the fact that, despite the flat access from outside throughout the whole of the ground floor (although you’d be pushed to get a wheelchair into the changing rooms), there’s no disabled access to the first floor. Considering this is a completely new building, it’s a real shame they didn’t install a lift.

The opening hasn’t been without its teething problems, as you might expect, but they’re confident that these will be ironed out over the next week - but it’s clear that, like the opening of Clonezone three years ago, The Basement Sauna’s arrival is another sparkling jewel in the crown of Leeds’ gay scene.