DETROIT (WXYZ) — Sitting inside Temple Bar, owner George Boukas showed us a heavy chunk of limestone. It's just one of the many chunks that came crashing down from their facade on May 24.
"If you look at the pictures, you’ll see all the limestone that fell," Boukas said.
The event altered the next seven months of Boukas' life. His family bar, built in the 1920s, was forced to close for the longest it ever has in the nearly 100 years it's been open.
VIDEO: See the scene around Detroit's Temple Bar after the facade collapsed
Staff member at Temple Bar Larry McCloud said that it left a hole in the community.
"It’s all inclusive. Everybody is welcome: gay, straight, Black, white — it doesn’t matter," McCloud said.
So many consider the bar to be a second home that McCloud decided to start a fundraiser to help Boukas reopen. We first told you about it in October.
Since then, it has raised over $23,500 in community donations.
"It was overwhelming," McCloud said. "He’s been there for so many people and survived through all the rough and bad times."
Boukas shared with us that getting the bar back up and running has been especially difficult as the property is in the Cass Park Historic District, and all efforts to rebuild need to be approved by the Detroit Historic District Commission and as close to the original 1920s design as possible.
"I was very close to giving up on a number of occasions," Boukas said. "I’ve worked harder the last seven months than I have worked in the last year behind the bar and managing the bar."
However now, thanks to the help of hundreds of loyal customers and personal hard work, Boukas is announcing that Temple Bar will reopen on Tuesday.
He told us that support from the community is what kept him from giving up these past months.
"People called and said, ‘you can’t give up, you just can’t, we need our home back.'"
McCloud added, "It’s exciting. Already today, I’ve got so many messages."
The facade of Temple Bar is not yet complete, but Boukas has received permission from the city to operate while they continue construction.
As far as what Tuesday will be like, Boukas said, "I’m hoping it’s going to be a zoo!"
