Detroit’s Woodward Cocktail Bar damaged in fire

The city’s oldest LGBTQ bar ‘may be considered a total loss,’ the fire department says

By Randiah Camille Green

Jun 14, 2022 at 1:23 pm

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Randiah Camille Green

Woodward Cocktail Bar in Detroit was damaged in a fire Tuesday.

Smoke billowed across Woodward Avenue as firefighters worked to extinguish a fire at Woodward Bar and Grill (also called Woodward Cocktail Bar) Tuesday morning.

The fire at the longstanding LGBTQ hangout started around 11 a.m. and by 1 p.m. the Detroit Fire Department was still on scene trying to put it out.

Detroit Fire Department chief of community relations James Harris tells Metro Times a cause has yet to be identified but no injuries were reported.

Harris says the crew evacuated 23 units from the building next door and neighboring Huntington Bank.

“It was a third-alarm fire,” he says. “We haven’t identified the cause yet, but it may be a total loss.”

Woodward Cocktail Bar is located on Woodward Avenue in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood between Milwaukee and Baltimore. The bar opened in 1951 and is considered Detroit's oldest LGBT bar.

Woodward Avenue is closed to through traffic between Milwaukee and Baltimore Streets, and QLine service has been temporarily suspended.

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About The Author

Randiah Camille Green

After living in Japan and traveling across Asia, Randiah Camille Green realized Detroit will always be home. And when she says Detroit, she's talking about the hood, not the suburbs. She has bylines in Planet Detroit News , Bridge Detroit , BLAC magazine, and Model D .Her favorite pastimes are meditating on...