The grand opening of a new bar at the corner of Fifth and Monroe in downtown Springfield was set for Aug. 28 but had to be scuttled when a water main broke and flooded the entire block of Monroe between Fourth and Fifth streets the night before. Undeterred, the owners of The Bus Stop have simply picked up the pieces and moved across the street.
Well, maybe not so simply.
“Our insurance weaseled on us due to the fact that [the damage] was from an outside source,” said Bus Stop co-owner Zac Lowman. All the electrical panels powering the original location of 430 E. Monroe St. were located in the basement, which was completely flooded, rendering the building, which has been home to numerous venues over several decades (Wooden Nickel, Craft Beer Bar, Crocodile Rock, and Whiskey Jack’s, to name a few) a total loss.
“The building’s just shot,” confirmed Lowman. “It was about six-figure damage. The owner was like, ‘Hey, I can’t fix it.’” Lowman and his partners were thankfully released from their lease on the property, allowing them to move to the nearby space of the former Gin Mill at 235 S. Fifth St., almost directly across Monroe. Their former landlord allowed them to take the bar out of the space and move it to the new location.
“That was nice, because we had redone the bar in there,” Lowman said. “About 14 of us cut it from the bottom and carried it across the street. That was about a two-hour adventure. Thing was heavy.”
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Derailed but not deterred
On the positive side, the new space is larger than the one they were forced to abandon, providing more room for activities.
“We’re basically going to be doing the same stuff we planned on doing. Same signature drink menu, same theme nights – just in a bigger space, so now we’re going to be able to have pool tables, more dart boards, more gaming,” enthused Lowman.
A fundraiser held at Fifth Street GEM in early September helped defray the cost of moving.
“We’re very grateful for the community support,” Lowman said. “It’s been very encouraging. All the people that have reached out, donated, helped us have the opportunity to do this again. And, yeah, we’re just excited to finally see everybody at our establishment once we’re up and running.”
The Bus Stop is expected to be open for business before Halloween — fingers crossed.
Scott Faingold is a journalist, educator and musician. He has been director of student media at University of Illinois Springfield, founding editor of Activator magazine, a staff reporter for Illinois Times and co-host of Old School Bleep, a music-centered podcast. He can be reached at scottfaingold@gmail.com.
