Future of landmark Minneapolis gay bar uncertain after weekend fire

Brian “Bubba” Thurn, a longtime Loring Park resident, has had a tradition on snowy evenings after work — gather up a bunch of neighbors, and trudge to the 19 Bar. Even nasty weather didn’t keep the smokers off the back patio, Thurn recalled.

Not this week. The 19 Bar, one of the first gay bars to open in Minneapolis and one of the oldest continuously operating establishments of its kind in the United States, is closed until further notice after a fire last weekend. The manager said he’s not sure when it will re-open.

“It was just a cool, laid-back place,” Thurn said. “That was like my second living room.”

The bar caught fire Saturday when a garbage truck hit a telephone pole, which fell and landed on part of the building.

The pole struck a gas pipe that sent sparks and a surge through the entire bar, filling it with black smoke. The bartender on duty was able to get out, said bar manager Craig Wilson. The fire department put out the fire and no injuries were reported, he said.

Wilson said the owner is committed to repairing and re-opening the bar. Still, he said, “we’re out of a job and we don’t know for what kind of timeframe. Whether it’s two months or a year, I don’t know. I can’t answer that at this point.”

A post on the bar’s Facebook page said simply: “Unfortunately, with love, everyone is 86′d until further notice,” it said.

Its future uncertain, regulars remembered the 19 as a neighborhood-first kind of place, both unpretentious and a safe space. Fridays and Saturdays brought people from beyond Loring Park, and it’s been an unofficial headquarters during Twin Cities Pride celebrations in nearby Loring Park.

But Thurn will remember those chill weekday happy hours the most fondly. Thurn, who uses they/them pronouns, said the bar remained a welcoming place for them even after they quit drinking.

The inconspicuous bar opened in 1952, and in 1957 new owners officially turned it into one of the city’s first gay bars. That was more than a decade before the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City unofficially kicked off the modern gay rights movement.

Like many gay bars of its era, the 19 Bar has never had windows.

“That was started to keep identities closeted when the times weren’t how they are now,” Thurn said. “We had to kind of be in hiding.”

Thurn created one of two fundraisers to support those hit hardest by the bar’s loss: 19 Bar’s eight employees.

Bartender Jodie Novak said this year’s Pride weekend will mark her ninth anniversary working at the 19 . She said she’s been heartened to see so much support from within the industry, like upcoming benefits at fellow Minneapolis gay bar The Saloon on April 7, and another at Palmer’s Bar on April 21, as well as donations from longtime patrons.

“I am just so appreciative of all the support we’ve gotten from everybody. Everybody who’s given us money, who’s doing benefits, who has reached out with a kind word of support,” Novak said. “It’s nice to hear that people love us and miss us and can’t wait for us to be back.”