Fire destroyed the inside of Nancy Whiskey’s early Sunday, devastating Detroit’s Corktown mainstay of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
But owner Gerald Stevens said today that he plans to rebuild after an electrical fire in a cooler under the bar apparently sparked the blaze at 3:23 a.m. Sunday.
“We will rise from the ashes,” vowed the owner of the Irish pub at 2644 Harrison, in the neighborhood just across I-75 from the vacant lot that used to be Tiger Stadium. He’s owned the tavern, built in 1898, for five years with his wife, Eva. “This is a temporary speed bump.”
Sleeping upstairs, renter Jesse Galvan, 66, awoke early Sunday realizing the smoke he smelled after the pub closed wasn’t the typical whiff of cigarettes. He called 911, then opened the door for responding firefighters, many of whom may have attended Detroit Fire Department fund-raisers and charity events held there over the years.
“The bar was exploding – all the bottles cracking,” Galvan said. And while only a faint trace of black remains above vents along the brick façade, smoke was billowing Sunday out the front door from the old wooden 30-foot-long bar as it vaporized in the flames. “I think there’s about three feet left of that bar.”
Valued at $250,000, damage was estimated to be a $50,000 loss to the building and $45,000 to its contents. All the pictures are gone, as well as various trinkets from over the years, Galvan said.
Many inside Detroit music circles considered Nancy Whiskey's one of the best-kept secrets for live blues. Business for the raucous corner bar – with a compact capacity of 49 people -- has changed since the Detroit Tigers moved out of Tiger Stadium for Comerica Park. But each weekend, metro Detroit’s best blues and R&B talent over the years displayed their chops, including the Thursday night bring-your-instrument blues jam sessions.
The Broken Arrow Blues Band, host of Thursday’s blues jam, e-mailed this morning that “it’s not a total loss, but it will take time.”
The owners say they plan to reopen by Christmas.
