Mayor Chris Coleman at the bar in 2008. Photo by Tom Wallace.

Downtown St. Paul gay bar Rumours & Innuendo has announced that its last night of business will be this Saturday (Oct. 30). The cause? It cites an uphill battle with light rail construction, which has been taking place right outside its front door for quite some time.

It's sad news for a bar that has been a strong advocate for the Lowertown nightlife scene. The Innuendo half of the operation opened in 2007, taking its name from a popular late `80s/early `90s gay night spot in St. Paul. The second half of the bar, a nightclub called Rumours opened in 2008.

There has been heavy light rail construction along 4th Street in downtown St. Paul. In a statement, owners Sean and Jim Fetterman said "we have decided that we cannot continue to engage in this uphill battle to provide a clear path to our business and limit interruption to our guest experience." The owners emphasized that their decision to close the bar was due only to the construction congestion.

During the past four years, Rumours and Innuendo has been a home to many LGBT groups, including the Minneapolis Movie Bears, the North Star Gay Rodeo Association, as well as numerous other non-profits.

In its quest to make downtown St. Paul a nightlife destination, the bar's owners helped to create the Lowertown Entertainment District. One of the District's projects has been the annual Lowertown Boo's Crawl, which is a Halloween pub crawl between Barrio, Bulldog, Station 4, Rumours and other downtown bars. Rumours & Innuendo will take part in the crawl on its closing night.

The owners said they hope long-time regulars will come out and say good-bye on the closing night.

Rumours & Innuendo: 213 E. 4th St., St. Paul. 651-225- 4528. www.rumours-innuendo.com