DETROIT – Memories of a Downtown Detroit staple will be celebrated this weekend as the Town Pump Tavern prepares for a move after more than two decades.
It was announced last month that the building was sold and the gathering spot on West Montcalm Street would get a new home after occupying the ground floor of the historic Park Avenue House since 1997.
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While the pub is vacating its original location, patrons won't have far to go -- the tavern is moving across the street, to the former Centaur Bar on Park Avenue.
Before the space came to be what it has been for the past 22 years, it housed a fine dining restaurant and then a gay go-go bar. After what the tavern's website describes as a "suspicious fire" destroyed the inside of the gay bar, it became the headquarters for the Detroit Chapter of the Guardian Angels in the 1970s and '80s. It was also a laundromat.
The upper levels of the building were once home to the Royal Palm Hotel before becoming apartments.
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Located close to many Detroit entertainment venues, including the Fox Theatre, The Fillmore, Ford Field and Comerica Park, Town Pump Tavern has been a gathering place for more than two decades of fans, other Detroit visitors and residents. Following the announcement that the original location would be no more, photos throughout the years have flooded Town Pump's Facebook page.
The "One Last Pump" going-away parties are planned for Jan. 11 and 12 from 4-11 p.m.
While an official date hasn't been announced, the bar is expected to open at 2233 Park Avenue soon.
