Eck's Saloon - Save Our Stage
Donation protected
This campaign is an accompaniment to a fundraiser event from Jan 16th to 20th, 2020. We're hosting a live music and art festival... 4 days x 24 hours to show the community what we're about and save this stage!
Since 1981 Eck's Saloon has been a landmark of live entertainment in Lakewood, CO and the surrounding Denver metro area. Having hosted hundreds of national & international musicians, it also provides a means for local talent to be seen and build followings, with a rich history of rock and hard rock.
70s bands Blackfoot, Firefall, UFO & Head East; 80s hair bands Skid Row, Winger, Dokken, Warrant, Slaughter & Quiet Riot; 90s acts Drowning Pool, Soil, Powerman 5000, Testament, Metal Church & Corrosion of Conformity; 2000s Sick Puppies, Superjoint Ritual & Five Finger Death Punch, plus countless local bands and more have graced our stage. For many years it was "home base" to the local rock station KBPI.
The last 10 years the building has been on the decline from lack of maintenance and sitting empty for a couple years. It reopened misnamed as a country bar which wasn't country and it ultimately lost occupancy from the City and Fire Department in August of 2018.
This is where I come in, I'm Ken and I'm hell bent on fixing it.
I'm a music lover first & foremost and having worked for the last owner as host of the karaoke & open mic nights from 2/17 to 7/17 then stage manager from 7/17 until the power was cut off, I've spent countless hours cleaning 20 years of accumulated debris and outdated equipment off the stage and upgraded the sound and lighting equipment out of my own pocket to make it current and more capable for the musicians.
Upon its closing I negotiated with the prior owner to transfer the liquor license in exchange for money owed working for him with the agreement I would also pay his existing debt to sales tax and liquor vendors, well over $70,000 total, so I was in the hole badly before I got the chance to start fixing things.
It was decided to return to the old name which is beloved by the community and well known throughout the State but have a second name, Antero Hall @ Eck's Saloon, for the music hall in order to jettison the reputation of only hard rock and the more recent identity crisis.
As a hall, we can provide for all genres of music, art of all styles, and provide a meeting place for the local community.
Over 30 creatives I'm proud to call friends came out as they had time in their schedules to help get a building with no occupancy, no power and a non-existent budget through almost 6 months of cleanup and repair; August 2018 to February 2019 to pass Fire Department & City inspections bringing the building up to safety code and regaining occupancy. This included a new, fully modern fire alarm system, as no one wants a repeat of the 2003 Station nightclub and 2016 Ghost Ship Music Collective fires.
This got us soft "open" under the old owners license while repairs continued and we saved for the transfer which was initiated in June, 2019. It was expected to take 5 days, and we were unable to serve during this time. 7 weeks flew by before it was approved, and our means were further depleted.
After receiving the temp license, there was still much to be repaired in the kitchen and as we're a Bar and Restaurant license a portion of our sales must be from food. We do have some but its been limited to pre-packaged, frozen things prepared in toaster ovens and microwaves behind the bar.
The kitchen was without question where the majority of the work was needed and as we got further in it required more and more to be up to health standards, but we had to be open and earning to afford materials. Consequently we were unable to complete it before the temp liquor license expired Nov 8th and I'm running on fumes. Having been denied an extension to the temp by the City because the State requires both licenses to issue the permanent, suffering through and finishing the kitchen has been the only goal since.
There's hope though! The kitchen is ready and paperwork has been submitted to the County. I'm now patiently waiting for inspection but I need your help to get caught up on bills, inspections, legal fees and licenses. Time is running out before the window to contest the decision closes and then I'm facing a 2 year wait to reapply.
We're on the cusp of being able to fulfill the dream of saving and restoring this glorious stage and be fully open but I've been bled dry by time, regulation, material costs, overhead, bad actors, my own inexperience and other circumstances. There's still much to polish to make it truly shine, but here and now I feel its better than its ever been and this is only the beginning. No Bull.
The building owners have decided it will not be a live music venue again if I fail, and we all lose this local landmark.
Help save this place and keep it healthy for the next generation of creatives!
Thank you.
Since 1981 Eck's Saloon has been a landmark of live entertainment in Lakewood, CO and the surrounding Denver metro area. Having hosted hundreds of national & international musicians, it also provides a means for local talent to be seen and build followings, with a rich history of rock and hard rock.
70s bands Blackfoot, Firefall, UFO & Head East; 80s hair bands Skid Row, Winger, Dokken, Warrant, Slaughter & Quiet Riot; 90s acts Drowning Pool, Soil, Powerman 5000, Testament, Metal Church & Corrosion of Conformity; 2000s Sick Puppies, Superjoint Ritual & Five Finger Death Punch, plus countless local bands and more have graced our stage. For many years it was "home base" to the local rock station KBPI.
The last 10 years the building has been on the decline from lack of maintenance and sitting empty for a couple years. It reopened misnamed as a country bar which wasn't country and it ultimately lost occupancy from the City and Fire Department in August of 2018.
This is where I come in, I'm Ken and I'm hell bent on fixing it.
I'm a music lover first & foremost and having worked for the last owner as host of the karaoke & open mic nights from 2/17 to 7/17 then stage manager from 7/17 until the power was cut off, I've spent countless hours cleaning 20 years of accumulated debris and outdated equipment off the stage and upgraded the sound and lighting equipment out of my own pocket to make it current and more capable for the musicians.
Upon its closing I negotiated with the prior owner to transfer the liquor license in exchange for money owed working for him with the agreement I would also pay his existing debt to sales tax and liquor vendors, well over $70,000 total, so I was in the hole badly before I got the chance to start fixing things.
It was decided to return to the old name which is beloved by the community and well known throughout the State but have a second name, Antero Hall @ Eck's Saloon, for the music hall in order to jettison the reputation of only hard rock and the more recent identity crisis.
As a hall, we can provide for all genres of music, art of all styles, and provide a meeting place for the local community.
Over 30 creatives I'm proud to call friends came out as they had time in their schedules to help get a building with no occupancy, no power and a non-existent budget through almost 6 months of cleanup and repair; August 2018 to February 2019 to pass Fire Department & City inspections bringing the building up to safety code and regaining occupancy. This included a new, fully modern fire alarm system, as no one wants a repeat of the 2003 Station nightclub and 2016 Ghost Ship Music Collective fires.
This got us soft "open" under the old owners license while repairs continued and we saved for the transfer which was initiated in June, 2019. It was expected to take 5 days, and we were unable to serve during this time. 7 weeks flew by before it was approved, and our means were further depleted.
After receiving the temp license, there was still much to be repaired in the kitchen and as we're a Bar and Restaurant license a portion of our sales must be from food. We do have some but its been limited to pre-packaged, frozen things prepared in toaster ovens and microwaves behind the bar.
The kitchen was without question where the majority of the work was needed and as we got further in it required more and more to be up to health standards, but we had to be open and earning to afford materials. Consequently we were unable to complete it before the temp liquor license expired Nov 8th and I'm running on fumes. Having been denied an extension to the temp by the City because the State requires both licenses to issue the permanent, suffering through and finishing the kitchen has been the only goal since.
There's hope though! The kitchen is ready and paperwork has been submitted to the County. I'm now patiently waiting for inspection but I need your help to get caught up on bills, inspections, legal fees and licenses. Time is running out before the window to contest the decision closes and then I'm facing a 2 year wait to reapply.
We're on the cusp of being able to fulfill the dream of saving and restoring this glorious stage and be fully open but I've been bled dry by time, regulation, material costs, overhead, bad actors, my own inexperience and other circumstances. There's still much to polish to make it truly shine, but here and now I feel its better than its ever been and this is only the beginning. No Bull.
The building owners have decided it will not be a live music venue again if I fail, and we all lose this local landmark.
Help save this place and keep it healthy for the next generation of creatives!
Thank you.
Organizer
Ken Morris
Organizer
Denver, CO
