Kozy Crash

JP Rennquist May 16, 2010 22 Comments

Apparently a car ran into the Kozy Bar. I am not making this up. I did not get the whole story.

Here’s another one, note the “Love Wins” sticker in the window. My church the “Love Wins” place meets around the corner. I love those stickers.

In other 2nd Ave E & 1st St news, this is an interesting start to a week of commemorative activities around the Clayton, Jackson McGhie memorial, just across the street.

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Photos

22 Comments

Conrad

about 11 years ago 

I see the regulars there still haven't missed a step because of this.

EvilResident

about 11 years ago 

I've always sort of wondered what that place looked like inside. Sort of. Not enough to ever get out of my car within a block of it, though. I like my blood and organs INSIDE my body, thanks.

laurie

about 11 years ago 

That car is going to need a good dose of antibiotics.

Jim M

about 11 years ago 

Now where is a guy going to park his Rascal scooter?

E.

about 11 years ago 

Too bad it wasn't a semi...loaded with jet fuel.

Claire

about 11 years ago 

A friend of mine had just moved here (years ago) and told me she and her husband were downtown and she ducked into the Kozy to use their facilities. She said it was unforgettably disgusting.

woodtick

about 11 years ago 

Perhaps the Kozy had a couple too many and fell off the sidewalk into an oncoming brown 1974 AMC Matador.

Resol

about 11 years ago 

The Kozy is where Jesus would drink.  Why the hate and fear?

Patricia

about 11 years ago 

Yes The Kozy bar has its reputation.. Stay away from it if you don't want to look at it.  I will say that it has shady people .. it has scandelious people.. but it also has people in there that have been around for many many years.  If you want a beer and a good story or just watch interesting people who aren't pretending for one minute to be something they are not... (like pretty much every other bar in this town)... It has been here for a very long time.. and when it is gone... most will be happy but some of us will wish it was still around to get that little thrill of going into a place thats a bit seedy but sooo damn interesting...

wildgoose

about 11 years ago 

UPDATE: There is no news on this I thought the real reporters would have something on it, but no, nothing. I'm happy to see that they were out covering real news so that is not intended as a criticism.  All I know is that on my way IN to church I asked what happened and a guy told me that the the "Incredible Hulk" came by and messed the place up (which was my favorite answer and I should have just left it there.)  

Later someone said it was a car, and just then Andrej, the amazingly industrious Russian guy who some of you may know as Eric's point man on the Kozy (and many other things) pulled up but I didn't have time to stick around and find out anything else. 

The entire outside wall was pushed in pretty far.  This could be a big repair job.  As for "blowing it up" I know that was hyperbole, at least I really hope it's hyperbole, but lets remember that a lot of people live in the building. It's their home, who would want to blow up someone's home? 

Secondly, if we let go of all of our baggage about the building, take a look at it and you'll see it's really interesting from an architectural standpoint.  When the Charrette group of some of the nation's finest architects came through Duluth in 2005 they picked the Kozy as #1 or #2 on their list of Duluth buildings they would love to see preserved.  I may have the exact ranking wrong, but beside that, once again, I am not making this up.  They really viewed it as a diamond in the rough, maybe we should, too.

OK, one more, this is in response to Resol, Jesus, and whoever made the comment about how interesting the regulars are.  Last summer I was sad but privileged to attend the funeral of a guy who among many other things, was a Kozy regular.  You know how at the end of a graveside service people throw a few handfuls of sand onto the casket? Usually a few people do that and then go back to the church to drink coffee and tell stories while someone else comes with a backhoe and actually fills in the grave.  Well, this guys friends actually buried him.  One after another they all picked up a shovel and finished the job.  It took about 45 minutes and it was a hot day in June.  I learned a lot about friendship that day.

Danny

about 11 years ago 

Maybe this isn't being reported on because nobody could tell the difference.

TimK

about 11 years ago 

I've been to a few Jewish funerals where everyone took a turn with the shovel to fill in the hole, too. No backhoe- just a way to say good-bye with genuine finality.

eco eco

about 11 years ago 

Maybe it was run into by one of the self-righteous Duluthians who like to point fingers and say tsk tsk as they go by.

LoLo

about 11 years ago 

I remember one June evening when it was Tyler's, of Bratwurst fame, birthday.  A group of about 15-20 of us tried to go to the Kozy for a bump...They wouldn't let us in at 12:30 stating they "were closed."  I guess a bunch of raggle-taggle kids were too much for them.

tony d

about 11 years ago 

The building the Kozy is housed in is Pastoret Terrace, originally luxury townhouses designed by renown Duluth and Honolulu architect Oliver Traphagen. I have a pic of it in better days and will try to post it and dig up a little more history when I have a chance. I sure wouldn't mind if that front addition was taken away as part of a restoration effort.

heysme

about 11 years ago 

When I drove past last night I thought the plywood that was boarding up the window said "Thanks Grandma". Not sure though. Could an elderly person hit the building?

Danny

about 11 years ago 

Grandma = elderly person?  It's 2010, you know.

Piglet

about 11 years ago 

Anybody remember when the crazy drunk guy living upstairs at the Kozy knocked out his wife/woman(?), panicked, rolled her up in an area rug, lit it on fire and tossed it our the window? If memory serves me correctly, the punch didn't kill her but the fall & the fire did. Crazy place that Kozy!

Check out the Gold Room in the back. Wonder if they still have long-necked Bud's and sardines in a can?

Claire

about 11 years ago 

Wow, Piglet, that sounds like what happened to Rasputin way back when.

rnarum

about 11 years ago 

What does it look like on the inside? If you're too afraid to see for yourself... I have included a few images... 

Well... sometimes, it looks like this... and has even had some of Duluth's most scandelous musicians (Jamie Ness; Jim Hall) play to the benefit of the notorious patrons:

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3176/2958380912_faf39bb46a.jpg[/img]

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2958380414_9b0aea3831.jpg[/img]



[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2957537881_3a95dab145.jpg[/img]

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/3149714118_1c8248360e.jpg[/img]

rediguana

about 11 years ago 

Thanks for the pictures rnarum, what great confirmation that the place is scary, there's way too many white people for me to feel comfortable going in there.

On a second note, the Kozy is kind of like a little piece of New Orleans plopped down in Duluth (including the run-down appearance, general drunkenness and incredibly tight-knit community).

Patricia

about 11 years ago 

That is not the way it normally looks in the Kozy. It is never standing room only and it isn't just white people either it is probably the most mixed culture bar you will find in this town. I come and go out of there because of how interesting it is -- how the regulars fill me in on what's going on. Not once have I had a problem in the bar. (Outside is another story.) It is a small community of people that go in there and they are like family to each other. Yes many have issues, but in reality don't we all?

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