After last week’s fire at 213 East Bay St. shut down a number of popular bars, friends of the business owners set up a fundraising website where people can give money to help support the folks who lost their jobs. Since then, a number of local businesses have joined the cause.
For the rest of the month, Sparians at River Bowl Charleston (613 Johnnie Dodds Blvd, Mt. Pleasant) will set out a bucket during Service Industry Nights — every Monday from 9 p.m. to close — where people can put their receipts. At the end of the night, Sparians will add up the receipts and donate 15 percent of the total to the 213 East Bay St. employees.
On Wed. April 17 from 5 p.m. to midnight, the City Paper will sponsor a fundraising event at The Alley (131 Columbus St., Charleston). 100 percent of tips, 10 percent of all food and beverage sales, and 50 percent of bowling proceeds will be donated to the fund. Three bands will perform at the event, and so far, Return of the Mac and the Louie D Project have been booked to play. Area bars and restaurants will donate a percentage of their proceeds in the nights leading up to the Alley event, but the schedule has not yet been finalized.
Tonight starting at 5 p.m., Moe’s Downtown Tavern (5 Cumberland St.) will have a guest bartender, Patrick McGrath of High Cotton, who will donate his tips to the fire fund.
High Cotton (199 East Bay St.) and Slightly North of Broad (192 East Bay St.) will serve a specialty cocktail from now until the event at The Alley, with a portion of the proceeds going to the fire fund.
Mac’s Place (215 East Bay St.) is donating $1 from each Fireball shot purchased, and there will be a tip jar at the bar.
On Thurs. April 11, Dave Landeo Band will play at the downtown Wild Wing Cafe (36 N. Market St.). The restaurant will offer $2.50 well drinks, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the fire fund.
Ken Emery, co-owner of Burwell’s Stone Fire Grill (14 N Market St., Charleston), says his restaurant hired two former Speakeasy bartenders, Joe Fahey and Jon Calo, after the business went up in flames. “These guys do craft cocktails, they just love what they do, and all of a sudden the place where they love to do it was gone,” Emery says. He hired Fahey and Calo to bartend at the restaurant’s brand-new rooftop patio, which he says they helped him rush to prepare for a Friday-night opening just before the busy Bridge Run weekend.
As we reported last week, inspectors have determined that the building can be salvaged, but Yaschik Enterprises, the company that owns 213 East Bay St., has not set a date for completion of renovations. “It’s far too early in the game to know that,” Yaschik president Tom Ervin said last week.
The offices, restaurants, and apartments in the surrounding buildings have all re-opened after sustaining some smoke and water damage. Fred McCutcheon of Catastrophe Services Inc. – CSI says he had employees working “around the clock” to get the smell of smoke out of the air. McCutcheon says the nearby Wet Willie’s bar re-opened within 24 hours after the fire, and all the other businesses were open in time for the Bridge Run.
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