{"id":287140,"date":"2025-11-16T17:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/287140\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T17:05:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:05:23","slug":"torontos-iconic-imperial-pub-closes-its-doors-after-81-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/287140\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto’s iconic Imperial Pub closes its doors after 81 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Drinks flowed for the last time at Imperial Pub on Saturday as patrons past and present stopped by for a final drink. The iconic Toronto bar is closing its doors after 81 years of history at its location near Sankofa Square.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Toronto Metropolitan University bought the land on which the pub is located and plans to build a new student residence building on the location.<\/p>\n

TMU students are a large part of the pub\u2019s clientele and many, like Jade DeLuca-Ahooja and Luke Mathews, are sad to see it go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s such a shame,\u201d DeLuca-Ahooja told CBC Toronto at Imperial Pub on Saturday. \u201cI think there’s so many other properties in and around campus that they could have utilized the space better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lack a lot of community spaces,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cThis kind of was a supplementary place, though not part of campus, it’s still right beside it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair said they are working on a documentary for school to immortalize the pub\u2019s history and legacy.\u00a0 Mathews said in his \u201cdream world\u201d TMU would keep a space for the pub to operate after the residence was built.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt contributes so much to campus life in ways that I think are going to be lost,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TwoLocal history author Adam Bunch says local institutions are important for Torontonians to feel connected to the city and its history. (Lokchi Lam\/CBC)<\/p>\n

For decades, the Imperial Pub had been a place where all ages could come and enjoy a cheap beer with friends. Evan Davies, a customer since the 80s, said it hasn’t changed a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cit was just a cool, crazy, awesome, predictable, lovely, smelly, perfect bar,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davies said the authenticity that made the bar so beloved can’t be replicated. \u201cIt takes 80, 81, however many years to get to the point where you have this weird old place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A piece of Toronto history<\/p>\n

By noon Saturday, a massive crowd filled the bar. Many of the patrons at Imperial Pub on its last day said the bar represented to them a piece of Toronto\u2019s culture and history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many shared legends of the bar\u2019s famed features. The book-lined upstairs bar, The Library, was developed in 1978 with students in mind, according to the bar\u2019s owner, Fred Newman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your parents say ‘where are you?’ \u2018I’m at the library,\u2019\u201d said Newman, whose father opened the bar in 1944.<\/p>\n

Adam Bunch, a Toronto history author, said Toronto has been changing and replacing old buildings with new ones since the city was founded. But, he said, it\u2019s developed a reputation for not preserving its past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a city where it\u2019s not always easy to connect to that history,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, when you lose a place like the Imperial, or Honest Ed\u2019s or The Velvet Underground, you do feel like you\u2019re losing a little piece of the city\u2019s story as it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FredImperial Pub’s owner, Fred Newman, said the “overwhelming” outpour of support has him considering reopening the bar. (Lokchi Lam\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Bunch called Imperial Pub an \u201cinstitution\u201d and said local haunts, like a favourite watering hole, bring people closer to the city and in doing so can motivate people to make it a better place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe history of the city is often big events, these big moments on big stages,\u201d said Bunch. \u201cBut it is also these locals and these corners where people share their personal histories \u2026 that play a valuable role in the city and in the city\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though perhaps the end of the Dundas Street location,\u00a0 Newman\u2019s son and one of the pub\u2019s managers, Ricky Newman, said it may not be the last you see of the Imperial Pub. Nothing is certain, but the outpour of support has the owner reconsidering the next move.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA month ago, we would have said never, we\u2019d never try to recreate this cause it’s impossible,\u201d said Ricky. \u201cI still think we all believe it’s impossible to ever have this again, but we might try.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know,\u201d said Newman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-287140","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}