Officials discuss demolition after fire causes $2.1 million in damage to Mulligan’s Brick Bar

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Officials are discussing the emergency demolition of Mulligan’s Brick Bar on Allen Street after a large fire broke out early Sunday morning, causing an estimated total of $2.1 million in damage, city officials said.

According to police, an officer noticed smoke coming from the three-story brick building just before 4 a.m. and fire crews were dispatched to the area.

“They entered through the first floor front and they were confronted with heavy smoke, heavy heat conditions,” said Buffalo Fire Department Commissioner William Renaldo. “They made their initial push, but after a few minutes it was determined that it was too dangerous to be in there and there was a significant amount of fire in the rear of the building, which they couldn’t reach.”

The fire started on the first floor and quickly spread throughout the whole building, officials said.

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Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon said in a post on social media just before 9 a.m. that the fire was under control and there were no injuries. No one was in the building at the time of the fire, he said, and there are no private residences in the building.

An estimated $1.5 million in damage was done to the building’s structure and $600,000 to its contents.

Just before 10:30 a.m., crews were still hosing the building down with water.

Both Scanlon and Renaldo said there is currently no reason to suspect that the fire was caused by arson.

Allen Street from Wadsworth Street to Elmwood Avenue is closed until further notice. Officials are asking the public to avoid the area for investigative purposes and safety. With the whole roof caving in, the building was described as very unstable.

Mulligan’s Brick Bar, located at 229 Allen St., is next to the former site of The Old Pink, which was destroyed in a fire back in June. That fire caused an estimated $1.25 million in damages, resulting in its demolition.

40-year-old John W. Burns of Buffalo was arrested and charged with setting fire to The Old Pink in September. When asked if officials are looking into residents now associating Burns with the Mulligan’s fire, police said Buffalo fire is still investigating and there is currently no connection between the two.

Buffalo Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski, who represents the Allentown district, called Sunday an “incredibly sad day” and spoke about the bar’s cultural significance.

“These structures like the Brick Bar, and The Pink, and Nietzsche’s, and this block of Allen Street are establishments that always stay the same even though the world changed,” he said. “Memories that people have at the Brick Bar are elements of what make you a Buffalonian because of its iconic nature and the history that it has on all of our hearts and our experiences here in the City of Buffalo and in Allentown.”

Executive Director of the Buffalo History Museum Melissa Brown is working with an architecture professor at the University at Buffalo to try and save artifacts from the building.

The Allentown Association released a statement Sunday afternoon calling for the preservation or partial preservation of Mulligan’s. The association said the building, which has been around since 1897, served as a place for residents to gather since after Prohibition.

Patty MacDonald, the association’s president, and Executive Director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara Bernice Radle specifically called for the building’s facade to be saved.

“We ask the City of Buffalo to consider hiring a preservation-focused engineer to look at this building and see what can be done,” Radle said in the statement. “Like Cobblestone, which was stabilized by the City of Buffalo earlier this year, Mulligan’s Brick Bar is a critical building within the Allentown Historic District.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Watch city officials’ full press conference on the fire above.

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