BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Not much more than a decade ago, the great Red Simpson entertained the honky tonk faithful at Trout’s nightclub in downtown Oildale. Well, Red is gone now, and so is Trout’s — but with a little luck, his spirit will persist at a new housing project slated for that very spot.
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It’s the final chapter for the longtime honky tonk, the last remnant of the Bakersfield Sound’s glory days. The bar on North Chester Avenue was home at one time or another to most of the greats, but it closed in 2017, endured the theft of its iconic 800-pound neon sign from the front of the building, and then burned to the ground in April 2022, in an unsolved arson fire.
But good news. It’ll become much needed apartments.
Golden Empire Affordable Housing Inc, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation, will begin construction in about a month on a 15-unit complex that’ll put a small but welcome dent in Kern County’s housing shortage. Stephen Pelz, executive director of Golden Empire Affordable Housing, Inc, says the first tenants should be moving in at this time next year. And no, the architecture will not reflect a theme based on honky tonk music.
Trout’s neon sign, missing since 2017, recovered in Tuolumne County, comes home to Kern County Museum
We weren’t that creative, no,” Pelz said. “We’re thinking more of a Spanish Mission style.”…