Red Castle has been many things over the years. It’s been an upstart game store; nerd hangout; an active presence that draws people to the corridor; even bigger nerd hangout; integral part of the Foster Plaza’s facelift and sudden marketability; budding empire with a neighboring, offshoot cafe in the works.

All this still remains true with the exception of the future Cafe Red. And while plans for the cafe have been scrapped, so, too, have plans for a remodel that became necessary after a drunk driver crashed into their building several months ago.

Dang drunk driver. And dang insurance policies that don’t cover dang drunk drivers.

See, the drunk driver was bad luck. But the insurance policy….that was icing on the cake. And since insurance won’t cover the cost of replacing the corner (entryway) of the building, nor the floor-plate that completely shifted upon impact, the cost of renovations become the burden of whoever owns the building. And if the landlord’s insurance doesn’t cover it, and the landlord himself won’t cover it, then it becomes the burden of Red Castle. In the end, that was too cost-prohibitive. So the plan to temporarily move into the future Cafe Red during renovations was scrapped. And so, too, did the plan for a cafe at all, as adding more expenses did not compute well.

So where does this leave Red Castle?

Well, for one, they’re extremely grateful for the support of the community, as owner, Matthew Micetic, recently expressed to us. He’s also very proud of how the community came together to decorate the vacant window-front where Cafe Red was to be. But for now, he’s focused on selling games and hosting gamers. Also, Red Castle will be partnering with Pieper Cafe for the occasional cafe game night. Check with Red Castle and Pieper for more info on that.