BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Old Pink is gone. The iconic bar in Buffalo's Allentown neighborhood was destroyed by a fire early Monday morning and demolished that same day.
In the video below, you can see construction crews knock down what was left of The Pink after the fire
The bar meant a lot to the community, its employees and its patrons. A GoFundMe has been created to help raise money to help the owner, Molly Brinkowrth, and the staff.
Since then, numerous people from all walks of life have been sharing their memories.
7 News spoke with members of the community earlier this week who shared their memories of the bar and its celebrated steak sandwich.
On Monday night, the community showed up to what was left of the iconic bar for a candlelight vigil
On Thursday, 7 News spoke with Robby Takac from the Goo Goo Dolls who spent many years at The Pink and shared his memories.
"I was a patron for a long time and I ended up being a DJ here for about 10 years on and off throughout the early 90s," said Takac. "I spent a lot of time here. A lot of memories. It was just a place that everybody met up at the end of the night."
He said everyone was welcome without judgment.
"It was a place that the misfits could come and hang out and feel normal," said Takac. "Therefore there were a lot of musicians here. A lot of artists here and a lot of creative people talking all night and dreaming. There's been so many so many bands, so many musicians in this bar from all over the world."
Takac said nearly every band that came to his Buffalo studio spent time at The Pink.
"Nearly every band that came to my studio here in Buffalo to record spent many, many hours here and fell in love with this place," said Takac. "Ian Gillian from Deep Purple did a record down at our place and he actually put the Pink Flamingo on the front of his album."
Takac explained that those who spent time there will always remember it.
"I grew up here, lived here, wandered these streets...everybody from homeless people to rock stars...they all fit in this place...it all worked," said Takac. "It was more about the way you thought and less about how much you had or any kind of that stuff. It's time to march on, but people will always remember this."
7 News spoke with Molly Brinkworth, the longtime owner of The Old Pink, on Wednesday.
She shared the same sentiment as Takac, saying in part that the customer made the bar a family.
"At the end of the day it's my customers, they made my bar a family and we became this subculture of craziness," said Brinkworth. "I'm so lucky that I got to sit on my bar stool and I met people from around the world."
You can watch a full interview with Takac below.
