Mother Lode, the oldest gay bar in West Hollywood, had a mishap last night after part of the ceiling collapsed on patrons during business hours. No injuries were reported.
A sign posted by the City of West Hollywood Building Official confirms that the ceiling collapsed and now the entry, occupancy and lawful use of the building is restricted until the city is able to provide a structural observation and repairs are made as required. Until such time, the Mother Lode will remain closed to the public.
Photo by Mike PingelThe Mother Lode is in the midst of making some major renovations. As reported here earlier, the beloved gay bar revealed its new face just in time for LA Pride weekend. The plywood that covered the bar for the past 9 months or so, came down to reveal an entirely different facade from its original storefront. The construction was supposed to be finished by this past December according to the co-owner, who simply goes by the name Bob. The bar had recently acquired new signage in late June, which looks nothing like the original sign that has been part of Mother Lode for many decades.
“We just had a minor incident,” Bob told WEHO TIMES. “It was nothing structural. It was just a cosmetic thing over the ceiling. We have a form from the engineer saying that everything is structurally sound. We are bringing this to Building and Safety and see what they say.”
According Bob, parts of the ceiling did fall around patrons, but he says no one was injured that he’s aware of. He thinks the incident occurred due to the area having retained some water about three years ago. They put up some patch work and it is the patch work that came through. “It was a small area,” he said. “I don’t know if they didn’t do it right, or what happened, but we are going to replace all of that.”
Bob stresses that it was nothing major and the Mother Lode will open again hopefully as soon as tomorrow.
