London’s Old East 765 Bar and Grill will be closing its doors in the Old East Village later this month, nearly six years to the day after it opened, after the building housing the bar was sold to new owners.
The closure of Old East 765, which has operated at 765 Dundas St. since Feb. 29, 2016, is yet another blow to the city’s live music scene, which has been hit hard in recent years by the closure of several longtime venues.
“In no way, shape or form was this a decision of mine,” said Jim Ferreira, who has owned and operated the OEV watering hole since it opened, in an interview Tuesday.
“I’m a big supporter of the live entertainment industry, the hospitality industry, and just supporting the community as much as possible. Unfortunately, our landlords … felt that it was in their best interest to sell the property and the building.”
Old East 765’s last day of business will be on Sunday, Feb. 27, a day before they’re required to be out of the building for good.
The new owners will take the keys on March 1 from brother landlords George and Peter Athanasakos, who have owned the building since the mid 90s, and previously operated Old East 765’s predecessor, Town & Country Saloon.
Ferreira says he was first notified of the change in ownership just before Christmas, and still isn’t sure who the new owners are.
“When I was delivered the paperwork and informed, my first question was who are the owners? Can I talk to them so that I can still stay here? I was informed that they can’t share the information,” Ferreira said.
“They don’t have any idea what their plans are for the building, but they did assure me that there would be no other restaurant or bar or any sort of venue that would take it to the place of where we were located.”
Peter Athanasakos told Global News Tuesday that a local numbered company had purchased the building.
“I’m not really capable of really running the business. It’s hard work,” Athanasakos said of the decision to sell the building, which he and his brother have owned since 1994.
“With the COVID and that, it makes it a little bit difficult. It’s just a good time to sell. Whatever they’re going to do, it’s for the area, they’re going to improve it.”
With less than two weeks to go before the new owners take control, the bar has lined up a slate of entertainment options to give the venue a solid send-off. This weekend alone will see 20 bands performing at Old East 765, Ferreira says.
Five local bands will perform on Friday, while on Saturday, 15 bands of different genres will take to the stage over the course of 12 hours starting at 2 p.m. for an event dubbed “Last Call at 765.”
“(It’s) basically made up of me reaching out to bands that have played at one time or another on our stage. We’ve been able to put together 15 bands from as far as Hamilton down to Windsor and all around,” he said.
Sunday will see Tragically Hip tribute band, Hip Too, perform as part of their “50 Mission Cap-acity Tour.”
Since news first broke of the bar’s pending closure, Ferreira says he’s received an outpouring of comments and messages from people in the community voicing their support and wishing him luck.
“I honestly did not realize the impact that of what we offered to the community. It is definitely humbling and definitely a proud moment,” he said.
Old East 765 is just the latest music venue to close its doors over the years in London, which was designated Canada’s first UNESCO City of Music in November.
Last summer saw the closure of the London Music Club on Colborne Street, while in late 2020, Call the Office closed indefinitely after nearly 40 years at the corner of Clarence and York. The owners of both venues cited COVID-19 impacts in their decision. Another venue, Norma Jean’s, closed just prior to the pandemic.
Local live music fans still mourn the loss of the Brunswick and Embassy hotels more than a decade ago. The heritage venues were both gutted by fire and subsequently demolished in the late 2000s.
After sitting vacant for more than a decade, Indwell broke ground on a 72-unit housing project at the site of the former Embassy Hotel in 2020, a stone’s throw from Old East 765 at the corner of Dundas and English. The project, Embassy Commons, is set to open this year.
A surface parking lot occupies the former site of the Brunswick Hotel, located at the northwest corner of Talbot and York streets.
With so many local music venues having gone quiet over the years, Ferreira says its vital that people support local, live music any way they can.
“Live music, although it’s out there, I honestly believe that many of us take it for granted in the sense that we have all these different cultures. But the smaller venues are a dying breed,” he said.
“When I was 19, 20, 21, I had so many friends playing so many different bands that I was going from one venue to another venue to another venue, all in one night … the problem today is you cannot do that. And if we don’t continue to support one another and the live music industry, we will lose all venues at one point or another.”
Asked what the future held for him, and for a possible successor to Old East 765, Ferreira said he wasn’t 100 per cent sure.
Ferreria says he’s been contacted by bands reaching out and asking him about going into promotions, or becoming a manager, and adds that he’s been looking non-stop at possible venues since learning of the building’s sale.
“If there was a place or if someone came up to me and said, ‘I have a place, I know you have the talent. Can you bring this to life?’ I’d say I’m 99 per cent on board and I’d be back at it tomorrow,” he said.
“If I can’t, I’m going to do my best to continue to support live music in any way, shape or form.”