On every Rockies home opener day since Blake Street Tavern opened, Michael and Monte Majeres have gone to the sports bar to celebrate. 

After 20 years serving as a loved neighborhood sports bar just a block from Coors Field, Blake Street Tavern will shut its doors for good Sunday. 

“It’s as much a tradition as anything,” Michael Majeres said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do next year.”

The tavern, which opened in 2003, has long been a favorite sports bar in Lower Downtown. After years of celebrating sports and bringing the downtown community together, the tavern announced it was closing on April 9 “to enjoy one last Rockies homestand with everyone,” according to Blake Street Tavern General Managers Shelley Majeres and Rhiannon Arriaga Mackenzie.

On its final Rockies opening day serving sports fans, the tavern was a sea of purple, bustling with baseball fans saying a final goodbye to their beloved sports bar. 

The tavern handed out purple shirts with its logo and “Long live Blake Street Tavern” adorning the back. 

Despite the sadness of the bar shuttering, its fans celebrated the joy and community the bar brought them throughout the years. 

“It’s always been a welcoming atmosphere,” Michael Majeres said. “Everybody is on the same team and it’s like a family. You end up seeing the same people year-after-year or day-after-day when you come down here.”

Elise Korneffel has worked at the tavern for 10 years, starting there when she was 15. 

“It’s very much a family and I feel like I was raised by a lot of the managers and bartenders here,” Korneffel said. “Denver’s losing a community within the community.”

For the past several weeks, Korneffel has seen plenty of familiar faces, with people who frequent the tavern and those who “haven’t been in in years but it still holds such a special place in their hearts” coming to say goodbye.

Maureen Hogan, who has worked at the tavern for four years, said one old regular even flew in to say goodbye to the tavern one last time. 

“There are a lot of families that were built here, like literal families,” Hogan said. “Countless people have gotten married here and there’s even a baby born named Blake after the tavern.”

Tavern regulars Tracy Ebersbach, Samantha Moore and Bree Shea have come to Blake Street Tavern for every Rockies opening day for the past 10 years. 

The three agree that, in losing Blake Street Tavern, the downtown community is losing “everything.” 

“It’s so sad to see them go, which is why we’re here to support them,” Ebersbach said. “We’re going to miss coming together and having fun, running into everybody, old friends, and having a good time here.”

General Manager Shelley Majeres celebrated her 17-year anniversary of working at the tavern on Rockies home opening day. She will always remember the tavern as a place for traditions, neighborhood friends and unity. 

“Blake Street Tavern opened as the baseball scene downtown really came alive,” Majeres said. “The tavern really helped build that scene and unite people. It really brought people together.”

Management at the tavern is unsure exactly why the tavern is closing. 

The owner, Chris Fuselier, has been out of pocket and chose not to renew the lease, according to Majeres. 

Fuselier has not replied to the Denver Gazette’s multiple requests for comment.

“I think our boss just decided that it was time,” Hogan said. “We had 20 beautiful years and now it’s time. Life changes.” 

Korneffel and Hogan don’t know what the plans for the space are when the tavern moves out, but are excited to see what it will be, they said.

“We’ve put a lot of years into this bar,” Hogan said. “Whoever does buy the space better take care of it.”