Mission Dive The Uptown Rescued By Employees

Although things were a little uncertain for The Uptown at 17th and Capp after the loss of owner Scott Ellsworth in April of this year, there is apparently some good news in store for the bar's future. As alleyway blog Capp Street Crap reports today, a group of the bar's employees and friends of Ellsworth have banded together under the name "Buy Your Own Damn Bar" and done just that.

According to Uptown bartender Shae Green, the new owners are on good terms with the landlord and are currently tying up the legal loose before they take over from Ellsworth's sister, who lives in Colorado but hoped to see the space remain a community fixture. The ownership group's cheeky new name, by the way, comes from Ellsworth's own words: it was a common refrain from the bar's original owner whenever a customer offered their own opinon on how to run the place.

As for renovations and upgrades, Green explains that the changes will be minor and cosmetic in nature: "I like the aesthetic of Uptown," Green told CSC, "but I agree it needs a little touch up. All the things I associate with a good neighborhood bar are going to stay the same."

Next month, the bar will celebrate 30 years in business with a five-day blowout starting on December 26th that will include barbecue, poetry readings and possibly some live music.

The news of the bar's rescue comes shortly after news that the Lexington Club, the city's only (debatable) remaining lesbian bar, will close in the near future. Likewise, Mission dive bar patrons experienced something of an existential crisis earlier this year when Pop's changed hands and re-opened in September after a little sprucing up.