After Last Week’s Devastating Fire, Help 773 Lounge Rebuild
Following the devastating fire at 773 Lounge last week, the staff and other friends of the longtime neighborhood bar have launched a fundraising campaign to help 773 rebuild.
Mike Sheehan and Diana King, who both tended bar at 773 Lounge, as well as the rest of the staff and some of the bar’s regulars, began this gofundmepage over the weekend and are hoping to raise at least $150,000 to bring “this venerable neighborhood institution back from the ashes.”
The all-hands fire, which took about 60 firefighters from 12 units to extinguish Thursday morning, thankfully didn’t injure anyone, but the work that needs to happen to rebuild the bar, the inside of which was completely destroyed, greatly exceeds what the insurance will cover.
Six years ago, a great neighborhood bar was on the brink of closing when lifelong friends Billy, Margaret, Kathleen and John pooled their savings to realize their dream of owning a bar, and so the legacy of the 773 Lounge continued.
Thursday morning their world was devastated by fire. Thankfully no one was hurt. However, their hopes and dreams have been curtailed. The damage to the space is severe. Rebuilding will cost well over what the insurance will cover and recent improvements have left the owners’ savings depleted. As they say, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I (Mike) walked through the bar in nearly complete darkness taking photos after the fire department left. What the flash revealed was deeply saddening. In addition to inventory, they will have to replace the kitchen equipment, stools and tables, the sound system and televisions just to name a few things.
Mike goes on to point out what so many of us know – 773 Lounge is a family bar with a long history.
Again, from the gofundme page:
Sunday afternoons are often impromptu potlucks with all the regulars pitching in. Santa Clause visits the bar every Christmas with presents for all the kids and a toy drive benefitting Toys For Tots. Tonight was supposed to be the annual party to benefit the Freedom Alliance. 773 has also become a home for the local music scene, featuring an array of great neighborhood bands and providing a new venue for Open Mic Night when Vox Pop shut its doors. In Billy’s words “We bury the dead and comfort the sorrowful. We celebrate love and new life. We are the ‘third place,’ a refuge from work and the struggles of home. More than a business, our bar is a calling. A mission. A labor of love. We operate on a shoestring budget and have more money in tabs than in the bank.”
For those who’d like to help 773 Lounge “rise up and come back stronger and better than ever,” as Mike writes, you can go here. You can also follow 773 Lounge’s progress on its Facebook page.
Photos via the 773 Lounge fundraising campaign.