Future of Ziggies, Colorado's Oldest Blues Bar, Uncertain After October

Colorado's oldest blues club might be looking for a new home in November. In a Facebook post, Ziggies owner Carla Jordan writes that after her ten-year lease expires on October 31, the owners of the property at 4923 West 38th Avenue will try to sell it for $1 million.

"I am looking closely at my options," Jordan writes, "which include potentially moving Ziggies to a new location (which may be cost prohibitive), selling the entire Ziggies business (assets, licenses, etc) to someone else, and / or offering to sell the business with the real estate building sale. The sale of Ziggies with the sale of the building is unlikely as they believe any buyers of the property will scrape the building and build more lofts or some sort of new development."

Jordan has tried to buy the building several times over the past ten years but hasn't because of the owners'  "various family/heir reasons/personal reasons," she writes.

Jordan says she has first right of refusal, meaning she'll get the opportunity to buy the building for the amount of the first legitimate offer. "However, they are asking $1,000,000.00 (yes $1 Million) for the building," she writes, "which I cannot justify coughing up, even if I had it!"

Ziggies, our Best Blues Club in this year's Best of Denver issue, will stay open until October 31 or until the building's owners have a buyer, and then the blues bar will go on a month-to-month lease, she says. All scheduled shows are still on the books.

"Owning a bar, especially one with live music every night, tends to be very expensive and a lot of hard exhausting work. I’ve given Ziggies everything I have, financially, emotionally, and physically for the past 10 years – I cannot justify sinking an additional million dollars into a business that perhaps has run its course," Jordan's Facebook post continues.

"There are certainly a lot of questions people are asking, wondering, curious about, etcetera," she says. "I’m trying to sort things out and plan for an uncertain future. The thought of a bulldozer rolling over the space Ziggies is (since 1964) and Lou’s was (1952-1964) makes me literally sick to my stomach. Obviously, this is heart breaking for me and a tough thing to swallow."