Luis Carlos Cano
The Juarez Journal
Saturday January 30, 2021 | 2:26 PM
Juarez City.– One week after the 10th anniversary of the traditional Lions Club Casino or Lions Casino, as it was called, only part of the construction of the building where the offices were located, part of the bar and kitchen remains . Near what was that memorable ballroom, only debris can be seen, next to the columns that line the floor with the table area. People of different ages now remember the place with its lamps and the glass lit by pink spotlights, historians from the El Juárez de Ayer project say. It was on February 3, 2011 that a fire destroyed the casino, considered an emblematic place for many generations of Juarenses. Inaugurated in 1956, it was known for its evenings and dances hosted by schools such as El Chamizal High School in the late 1970s. Previously, dances were also held for the workers of the brewery, a company close to the avenue Reform.
The first name the place had was “Segundo Frente”, and at that time it presented varieties with the most famous music groups and singers of the time in this border and from other parts of the country, such as the orchestra of maestro Ramón Muñoz Torres, Ricardo Echeverría and his ‘Locos del Cha Cha Cha’, the dancer Fanny Cabrera, the ‘Locos del Ritmo’ and the tango singer Carlos de Nava are advertised on one of the posters promoting dancing in this casino. “Strictly family atmosphere” was indicated on the poster which also announces the next presentation of the most popular artists on radio and television. After a few years it was renamed “La Joya” and later Casino Leonístico, in 1961, says José Luis Hernández Caudillo, a member of the group El Juárez de Ayer. Built between 1955 and 1956, the Casino Leonístico had a capacity of 1,000 people and was located between the streets of Uruguay to the west; the Republic of El Salvador, in the east; Plan de Ayala, in the north and Niños Héroes in the south, in the El Barreal district. In the decade of the 1970s, disco music began and mobile discotheques with names in English, such as ‘Stardust Disco’, emerged and which then still alternated one-hour sessions with live music from the orchestra of Don Carlos Aceves, as well as the organ of Polo Ochoa, is told in the memoirs about this place. In the presentations the “strictly family atmosphere” prevailed; For the dances, the clothes had to be a jacket and tie for the men and a dress for the women, if it was a dance from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. If it was an afternoon from 7:00 PM to 12:00 PM, you just had to be well dressed and not casual clothes. Hernández recalls that the sale of alcoholic drinks was not allowed at night. That’s why the famous Lions grenadines, as well as lemonades and Coca-Colas were sold in industrial quantities during the event. “Those were times when we boys took the girls to dance according to a protocol that was followed before; the lady in question was located, she was given three or four passes at the table where she talked to other girls. Then they put him around the table a few times, now in a frank challenge and maybe even exchanged a few glances, and then the final approach: can you dance with me? or do you just dance? and then the last answer, yes or no, ”he notes. The Lions was the most prestigious salon and according to the chronicles of the time became an icon of wholesome entertainment from the 60s to part of the 80s.
In short
• It was inaugurated in 1956
• The ruins are located in the El Barreal district
• Shows were presented with local and national artists