Two years ago, we took over a music venue called Mercury Music Lounge.

We cleaned it up, upgraded the sound and lights, and started bringing some really great

shows to Lakewood. Shows that our other two venues were simply too small to handle.

But, from almost the beginning, we had problems with the roof. We're talking everything

from small drips to it literally raining inside the venue over our expensive equipment,

bands gear, merch tables, and more. (See attached)

We were constantly assured that the roof issues were resolved. But sure enough, the

next rainfall would come, and either a new leak would spring up or we'd be dealing with leakage in the same area of the roof.

Fast forward to August 2026. Part of the ceiling began to cave in. Thankfully, we weren't

open that day. The City was called, and the large back hall of the venue, where our

concerts take place, was shut down.

During this time, the pizza shop next door also closed, unable to sustain the shutdown.

We thought this would be a relatively quick fix. Well, here we are, two months later. Still

shut down.

Throughout this time, we were repeatedly assured that repairs had been completed and

that only minor adjustments were needed. However, when we contacted the City

ourselves for an update, the City informed us that the order to vacate had NOT been

lifted. The City is also requiring an inspection of the entire roof, which, to our knowledge,

still has not been completed.

We tried to make the best of a bad situation. We continued operating the front bar,

hoping the necessary work would get done and we could get back to business as usual.

Unfortunately, without the main concert hall, it just wasn't sustainable. No shows meant

no main source of revenue. And without the food option next door, there was even less

reason for people to come in.

So, after trying to hang on as long as we could, we've been left with no choice but to

permanently close Mercury Music Lounge.

So... where does that leave us?

First, our incredible staff, who we are so unbelievably grateful to for sticking with us

through all of this, have been working for reduced pay. They've shown up, stuck it out,

and done everything they could while we tried to keep things afloat. They deserved so

much better than this.

After two years of roof problems and two months of being shut down, we are tired,

angry, frustrated, and devastated.

The debt has piled up. We've had to reschedule or cancel multiple shows during what

should have been some of our busiest months of the year. We've lost bookings because

artists understandably didn't want to risk having their shows canceled if we weren't able to reopen in time. And we've barely been able to book anything new because we simply couldn't give anyone a straight answer about when we'd be operational again.

The uncertainty has affected our other businesses, strained relationships with people

we work with, and put us in positions we never wanted to be in.

And that's one of the most frustrating parts of all of this. This is NOT how we do

business.

We take our commitments to our staff, the bands, the agents, the promoters, and our

customers seriously. Having to repeatedly cancel, move, or turn down shows because

of a situation completely outside of our control has been absolutely awful.

And quite frankly... we can't afford to keep doing it.

Given everything that's happened, we will not be moving forward with Mercury Music

Lounge.

We've set up a GoFundMe to help support our staff, who have been hit especially hard

by all of this, as well as to help cover attorney fees.

If you have a couple of bucks to spare, or even just a moment to share the fundraiser,

we would be eternally grateful.

And finally, thank you to everyone who came to a show, played our stage, bought a

drink, worked behind the bar, helped put on an event, or supported Mercury in any way

over the past two years.

Despite everything, we really did have some awesome times in that room. We brought

some incredible music to Lakewood, made some great memories, and met a lot of

amazing people along the way.

We'll see you all soon at The Foundry and The Winchester.