Erin Udell

erinudell@coloradoan.com

Washington's Sports Bar and Grill, a long-lived staple in the Fort Collins night scene, will close its doors April 30.

After 38 years in Old Town, the Laporte Avenue restaurant and bar was sold by Dan Eckles for $2.7 million April 6 to LaPorte Venue LLC, a Bohemian Foundation venture. The foundation plans to turn it into a mid-size music venue that will accommodate 750 people.

The venue does not yet have a new name.

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With an anticipated opening date in late 2017 or early 2018, the venue will feature regularly scheduled "Colorado Nights" and showcase musicians from Northern Colorado and across the region, according to a news release from Bohemian Foundation. There are also plans to bring national acts to the venue and, "add to the vibrancy of Fort Collins and the growing art community."

“Fort Collins’ burgeoning music scene has created a demand for more performance space,” Tom Scharf, the director of music programs at Bohemian Foundation said the release. “This venue will aim to fill the gap between Northern Colorado’s smaller venues and larger event centers.”

Talks about purchasing the building started a couple of months ago, said Eckles, a Fort Collins commercial Realtor. Bohemian created Laporte Venue LLC in late March, according to documents on file with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. The documents list Joe Zimlich, CEO of Bohemian Cos., Bohemian’s real estate and development arm, as the registered agent.

“They thought it would work for what they want to do,” Eckles said.

The venue will be closely connected to Bohemian Foundation's Music District, which is slated to open its doors on South College Avenue in September.

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"This is a goodbye to Washington's, and a hello to something that will be spectacular for the community," Washington's owner Megan Belcher said in a news release. "There is a growing music interest in Fort Collins, and we couldn't be happier that Bohemian will be developing the building into a live music venue."

Belcher and her husband Shane have owned Washington's for the last 11 years and say they will now focus on another business venture, the NOCO Party Bus rental service Shane Belcher founded in 2011.

A farewell celebration at Washington's will take place at 5 p.m. April 30. All ages are welcome to the family-friendly event, which will feature live music, penny burgers and drink specials. For more information, visit thewashbar.com.