ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — As Pride Month begins, Asheville entrepreneur and longtime resident JJ Pope is inviting the community to help fill the walls of a new downtown sports bar with something more meaningful than memorabilia.
Pope is looking for stories.
Old team photos. Jerseys. Championship trophies. Banners from rec leagues. Framed newspaper clippings. Even snapshots tucked away in family albums.
If all goes according to plan, those pieces of athletic history will soon decorate Q-Hall, Asheville’s first women’s sports bar and self-described lesbian bar, set to open later this summer at the corner of Coxe and Hilliard avenues.
“We want children to walk in here and see women and girls represented in sports everywhere they look,” Pope said. “I want them to know that’s an option for them.”
Pope recently took possession of the former Boomers space and hopes to open Q-Hall by late summer or early fall. The venue will feature wall-to-wall coverage of women’s sports, multiple television screens, a game room and a rooftop event space.
The timing feels fitting.
On the first day of Pride Month, Pope stood inside the mostly empty building, imagining what it could become: a gathering place where women’s athletics are celebrated daily and where LGBTQ+ residents can see themselves reflected in the community around them.
The idea arrives as interest in women’s athletics continues to grow nationwide, along with a small but expanding number of bars dedicated to showcasing women’s sports.
Pope first encountered the concept during a trip to Portland, Oregon.
“People kept telling me, ‘You have to go to the Sports Bra,'” she said, referring to the nationally known women’s sports and lesbian bar. “I went during the Women’s World Cup and thought, ‘Asheville needs this.'”
For the past two and a half years, Pope has been testing that idea through pop-up watch parties and community events at local venues, gauging interest while searching for a permanent home.
She found support from local businesses, mentors and Mountain BizWorks, which helped her secure an SBA loan to launch the venture.
Now, with keys in hand, Pope is focused on creating the atmosphere she envisioned.
Part of that effort involves asking the community to help tell the story.
Through social media, Pope is asking residents to loan or donate sports memorabilia that highlights the achievements of women and girls at every level — from youth leagues and high school teams to college athletics and professional sports.
Regional and local connections are especially welcome.
Pope said she’d love to showcase Western North Carolina athletes alongside memorabilia representing women’s sports history from across the country.
“It’s not about having expensive collectibles,” she said. “It’s about telling people’s stories.”
Among the items she plans to display is a photograph from her own childhood.
Growing up in Florida, Pope became the first girl to play in her local youth football league, coached by her father.
She still remembers the excitement of stepping onto the field.
Years later, she sees the bar as a way to reconnect with that younger version of herself — and perhaps inspire future generations of athletes.
“This is kind of for that 10-year-old kid who loved football,” she said.
The venue will be family-friendly during daytime and early evening hours, with food trucks and neighboring restaurants helping provide dining options. Upstairs, Pope plans to host community events, private gatherings and LGBTQ+ programming.
She also hopes the space can acknowledge the broader history of the neighborhood.
Q-Hall sits near Asheville’s historic Southside community, a once-thriving Black neighborhood that was dramatically altered by urban renewal projects that displaced residents and businesses. Pope said she wants the bar to be a place that brings people together while recognizing the stories of those who came before.
For Pope, creating the bar is about more than sports.
It’s about visibility.
It’s about community.
And it’s about honoring the people and histories that helped shape the area.
It’s also about having a place where people don’t have to ask for women’s games to be put on television.
“When you walk in,” she said, “that’s what’s already on.”
As construction and renovations move forward over the next few months, Pope remains focused on one goal: creating a space that feels like home.
“I’m excited to hang out here,” she said with a laugh. “I’m creating a place that I want to be.”
And if Asheville residents have an old jersey, a championship photo or a trophy gathering dust in a closet, she hopes they’ll consider sharing it.
Those glory days, she said, could help tell the story she hopes visitors will see every time they walk through the door.
