DENVER — An LGBTQ+ bar on North Broadway in Denver closed its doors on Sunday after, the owner said, homeless encampments kept customers away.
Loyal patrons filled the place for its final day. When a spot becomes more than a bar, people show up.
"This bar is home, or I guess the correct term 'was' home," said Thomas Mullen, who had been going to Triangle Bar for four years.
Mullen learned on Thursday his home was closing.
"It's sad to see that something that is uncontrollable has affected a bar to a level that it wouldn't be here anymore," he said.
Triangle Bar owner Scott Coors said guests are not coming anymore because many feel unsafe parking in the neighborhood. He partly blamed the dramatic drop in profits on homeless encampments in the area.
According to the bar, a survey of more than 500 people found more than half cited safety concerns due to the encampments.
"[Pre-pandemic] we had a tent here and there. We had a little concern occasionally, and it was manageable," Coors said. "When COVID hit we kind of became the epicenter - like where everyone wound up coming because the services organizations were here and the city kind of stopped patrolling."
Coors said Mayor Mike Johnston's administration did their best, but the efforts took too long for him to stay open.
"Bars make their money in the summertime and winter is never profitable," he said. "And we lost so much money in the summer."
Customers filled the bar on Sunday to support a bar that's felt like home.
"I would like to say I went through every emotion of grief this week when I got the email from Triangle saying they were going to be closing," Gunther Gochenauer said.
Coors said after a rough few years, it is better ending like this.
"And that feels good because if we didn't have this love and we were going out like an extinguished candle that would be sad," he said.
A drink just tastes better when it's shared with a community who feels more like family.
"It's a place that's, is on its own, that everyone can come to," Mullen said.
RELATED: Triangle Bar announces closure, citing encampments that 'surrounded and suffocated' business
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