South Bend to tear down old Kelly's Pub this summer, as area awaits street improvements

SOUTH BEND — The city plans to demolish a former pub near the South Bend Farmers Market by the end of this summer to make way for streetscape improvements.

Kelly's Pub, at 1150 E. Mishawaka Ave., closed this March after concerned neighbors mobilized to convince the owner to sell the late-night pub to the city for $275,000. The South Bend Redevelopment Commission on Thursday voted to allow the city to spend $125,000 to demolish the building.

"I don't think there's really a good reuse for the building," senior project engineer Zach Hurst told the commission. "It's in disrepair."

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Hurst said the city plans to demolish the building in July or August. City officials expect the demolition to be quick because the property is only about 2,000 square feet.

The city will use the parking lot outside the old pub for staging and parking during construction of the Mishawaka Avenue streetscape project. Likely to begin early next year, the changes will improve walkability in the area and make the corridor just east of the St. Joseph River more enticing for business owners.

A future use for the site is unclear. Joseph Molnar, a property development manager for the city, says the plan is to finish the streetscape improvement and then weigh proposals from interested developers.

Two shootings at the former bar in December 2023 and January of this year left neighbors on high alert after a year in which police were called to the bar more than 60 times. A mass shooting outside of the bar in 2019 killed a 27-year-old Niles man.

A memorial bench honoring Brandon Williams, the man killed in the 2019 shooting, sits outside the building. Hurst said the city will store the bench until streetscape improvements are finished and then place it back at the site.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend to demolish old Kelly's Pub building this summer