Third Edition from “St. Elmo’s Fire”

A couple of weeks ago, Rob Lowe posted an Instagram selfie taken in Georgetown with the caption “Return to the scene of the crime.  #StElmosFire,” and I was instantly reminded that I had stalked some locations from the seminal 1985 drama while back east in April 2016.  I learned about the locales thanks to my buddy Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, who emailed me a virtual catalog of D.C.-area filming sites prior to my trip.  One of the spots listed was Georgetown’s former Third Edition restaurant (now El Centro D.F.) at 1218 Wisconsin Avenue Northwest, the exterior of which he noted had appeared in the flick.  I had yet to see St. Elmo’s Fire at the time, but was familiar enough with it to know that much of the action takes place at a bar.  I assumed that bar was Third Edition – and many online sources backed up that notion.  When I finally sat down to view the film last week, though, I was shocked to see that Third Edition was only briefly featured and that St. Elmo’s Bar, where Billy Hicks (Lowe) and his fellow Brat Packers regularly hung out, was nothing more than a backlot façade.  Reports of which backlot in particular varied and I figured, since there was so much confusion surrounding the subject, it was high time to step in and settle the matter of the St. Elmo’s Fire bar once and for all.

Just to be clear – Owen never stated that Third Edition was the main bar from the movie – that assumption fell on me and was then verified – incorrectly – by a few sources online.  The list Owen sent me prior to my trip contained numerous addresses of sites and corresponding descriptions of their onscreen roles, and his notation about Third Edition was entirely correct – while not the gang’s main hangout, its exterior did appear in St. Elmo’s Fire.  Twice, in fact.  The restaurant first pops up in the film’s opening montage in which shots of Georgetown are splashed across the screen.  That’s it on the very left of the still below.  (My corresponding photo is a bit off from the angle shown in the movie.)

Third Edition is then featured again in a later segment in which Jules (Demi Moore) picks up Billy and Alec Newbary (Judd Nelson) to go for a ride in her Jeep with the rest of the gang.

I find it amazing that despite the fact that the brick is now painted over and there has been a change of occupant, the place is still recognizable from its cameo 35 years ago!  Even the menu display case, albeit a different one, is still affixed to the exterior of the restaurant in the exact same spot!

Third Edition was a Georgetown staple for more than four decades, running from 1969 through 2013.  You can see what it looked like when it was still in operation here.

The three-story casual eatery/bar served comfort food and libations and was popular among locals and tourists alike.  Much like St. Elmo’s Bar in the movie, it was also a haven for college students and featured multiple drink stations, a dance floor, DJs spinning music nightly, and an outdoor tiki lounge.  As one Yelper reported, “It reminded me of a college fraternity party with random girls dancing on top of a platform and guys trying to dance with them,” which might as well be a description of Billy and Jules’ regular hangout.

When Third Edition moved out in January 2013, Mexican restaurant El Centro D.F. (the D.F. stands for “Distrito Federal,” meaning “federal district”) moved in.  It remains in operation today.

St. Elmo’s Bar, on the other hand, was entirely movie magic.  Both the interior and exterior were nothing more than studio-built sets – the former constructed inside of a soundstage at (I believe) Warner Bros. Studio, which was then The Burbank Studios, in Burbank . . .

. . . and the latter, as I came to discover, on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood.

An entire half-block section of Universal'”‘”‘s New York Street area, in fact, was made over to resemble Georgetown for the shoot and, when production wrapped, was left intact for future filmings, becoming known as “Georgetown Avenue.”

The St. Elmo’s Bar façade, as well as the rest of the block, popped up several times throughout the movie . . .

. . . and was also featured on the poster.

Sadly, Georgetown Avenue was severely damaged in the fire that ravaged Universal’s backlot in November 1990.  Though it was subsequently restored, it was again destroyed in the studio’s 2008 blaze and was not rebuilt.  You can check out a map of where it used to be situated, in the upper left portion of New York Street, here.  Because it no longer exists, and hasn’t existed in its St. Elmo’s Fire-state since the 1990 fire, figuring out if filming took place there, as several online sources claimed, proved difficult.  Thanks to The Studio Tour website and its catalog of historic photos of the lot, though, as well as a 1989 episode of Quantum Leap that filmed near Georgetown Avenue, I was able to do so by pinpointing a few identifiers.  As you can see in the still from the movie below, St. Elmo’s Bar sat on a small street that dead-ended at the façade of a large brick townhome.  I found that same very façade pictured in this 1984 aerial of New York Street featured on The Studio Tour!  Visible in the mid/lower left section of the aerial, the structure boasts three stories, a porticoed front door, and sculpted lips in between levels – all of which match what appeared in St. Elmo’s Fire.  The window layout is also identical.

Next to the façade in the 1984 aerial is a stretch of brownstones.  Such was the case with the movie façade, as well.  You can see those brownstones and a portion of the brick townhome (it’s on the extreme left) in this 1984 photograph, also featured on The Studio Tour.

I was thrilled to discover that the brick townhouse is also partially visible in the Season 1 episode of Quantum Leap titled “Double Identity,” which was filmed at Universal in 1989.

Though shown from the opposite angle and dressed quite differently, the corner store situated across from the brownstones in St. Elmo’s Fire can be seen in Quantum Leap, as well.

When Georgetown Avenue was rebuilt after the 1990 fire, it looked significantly different, as you can see in this image which matches the angle of the screen capture below.  Though the townhouse façade was re-created as well as the brownstones next to it, numerous changes were made.

Here’s another shot showing the rebuilt Georgetown Avenue along with a corresponding screen capture below.  Why the street was not once again re-created after the 2008 fire, I am unsure, but I am guessing it is because not many productions are set in Georgetown.  The studio likely figured it could get a lot more mileage out of a New York scape and, as such, did away with the D.C. set.

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: El Centro D.F., aka Third Edition from St. Elmo’s Fire, is located at 1218 Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in Georgetown.  St. Elmo’s Bar from the movie was a façade that once stood on Georgetown Avenue in the New York Street portion of the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City.  Unfortunately, that area of the lot was damaged in both the 1990 and 2008 fires and no longer stands.

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