{"id":656,"date":"2025-07-02T14:27:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T14:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=656"},"modified":"2025-07-03T14:22:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:22:59","slug":"carioca-cafe-manager-hopes-to-reopen-legendary-denver-dive-bar-after-wall-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/02\/carioca-cafe-manager-hopes-to-reopen-legendary-denver-dive-bar-after-wall-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Carioca Cafe manager hopes to reopen legendary Denver dive bar after wall collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year and a week after the legendary Carioca Cafe dive bar caught fire, a sizable section of the 135-year-old Denver building\u2019s graffiti-strewn back wall collapsed Monday.<\/p>\n

Rich Granville, manager and operator of what locals affectionately call Bar Bar, said he was only a couple of weeks away from reopening the bar for the first time since the June 24, 2024, fire<\/a>. He just received his electric meter release permit from the city last week, allowing Xcel Energy to bring juice back to the building at 2060 Champa St.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019ll have to reset and give it another go \u2014 if he can.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything I can do to preserve it \u2014 if there\u2019s a way to move forward \u2014 I will,\u201d said Granville, 39. \u201cAs a Denver dive staple, it holds a place in a lot of people\u2019s hearts \u2014 both in historic relevance and in the music community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Denver Post article published 20 years ago<\/a>, the 80-year-old Carioca Cafe was described as \u201cno cafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a watering hole,\u201d the story said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the area around it is made up of mostly upscale lofts, the Carioca is drenched with a working-class, beer-stained hipster vibe,\u201d the newspaper reported. \u201cThe booths are smoothed and used, and the mural on the wall is faded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Granville first stepped into the bar about seven years ago as a trombone player in the now-defunct band People Corrupting People. He was hooked.\u00a0Now frontman for the band Poison Politix, Granville still plays at the Carioca Cafe \u2014 or did until the fire a year ago.<\/p>\n

Whether he can get to the cusp of another reopening of Bar Bar after coming so close this month will depend on the overall integrity of the building, Granville said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to cross our fingers and see what the structural engineer says,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the building is too compromised there might be nothing we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a year ago that Granville was uttering similar words after the fire that destroyed part of the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what will have to be fixed up, what will have to get back up to code, based on the age of building, and how we\u2019re going to go about those repairs,\u201d he told The Denver Post a few days after the blaze. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019ll be $2,500 or $25,000 or more. We really don\u2019t have the capital for this.\u201d<\/p>\n