Detroit's historic Temple Bar closed after partial collapse

Detroit's Temple Bar crumbles, manager hopeful

Detroit's iconic Temple Bar's facade came crumbling down early Friday morning -- but the bar manager is hopeful they can get back open soon.

Detroit's Temple Bar has been a staple in the Motor City for almost a century. But now, the iconic bar sitting just a few feet from Little Caesars Arena has been forced to close and is in need of structural repair.

When bar manager Larry Love left Temple Bar Thursday night, he was ready for a big weekend. But he came back to a big mess.

"We were prepared for a busy weekend but unfortunately it’s not gonna happen now," Love told FOX 2. "I closed last night at 2 o'clock and there was no signs of anything like this happening."

Temple Bar in downtown Detroit is closed after its facade collapsed Friday morning.

Temple Bar sits at the corner of Cass Ave and Temple street – just steps from both the Masonic Temple and Little Caesars Arena. But the bar won't be getting any traffic from those venues anytime soon.

When Love returned Friday morning, he found a mess of concrete, bricks, and scattered debris from the facade that crumbled early Friday morning.

Temple Bar in downtown Detroit is closed after its facade collapsed Friday morning.

Love said he's grateful that nobody was inside when it collapsed – and a witness driving by saw it happen.

"As she was heading north on Cass, she saw it slowly start to collapse and then a huge crash," Love said.

He said it was ar ugh day and the staff will be out of work for a while. The timing – with the Movement Festival in Detroit this weekend – is terrible. Temple Bar had a fundraiser and other fun events planned – but that's all stopped.

"Thursday night is like the pre start of movement. Friday is the big boom when everybody’s having a party," Love said.

Temple Bar has been a staple downtown for decades and a symbol of the LGBTQ community. Despite the setback, Love and the rest of the staff are staying optimistic that, after repairs, they'll be back in business.

"This is just cosmetic. The roof is still solid. The foundation's still solid. The building isn’t going nowhere. And we ain’t going nowhere anytime soon," he said.

There is no timeline for how long it will take to clean up the mess.

Temple Bar opened nearly 100 years ago and has been standing on that corner ever since. The bar was featured many times in the Comedy Central show Detroiters.