One of downtown Boulder’s most popular nightspots will go dark this weekend, as the owners of the New Foundry plan to shutter the bar and pool hall after more than a decade on Walnut Street.
Co-owner Janaka Ford confirmed Wednesday that the 8,670-square-feet club will close after giving University of Colorado football fans one last post-game hurrah.
“Saturday will be the final night,” Ford said. “We are closing the doors. Everybody will have one last chance to come out here.”
Ford declined to elaborate any further on the bar’s closing.
The Foundry’s co-owners lease the 1109 Walnut St. location from owner John K. Wolff, who purchased the building in 1997 for $900,000. On Wednesday, Wolff only would say, “We’re talking to some people about taking over the space.”
The Foundry has been a downtown Boulder institution since 1996. Last spring, Ford and his associates re-vamped the downtown club and re-named it the New Foundry.
At the time, Ford told the Colorado Daily, “It’s a great club, but it needed a rebirth.” The owners planned to refocus the club on live music and dancing — building a new, larger concert stage — and de-emphasize its longtime role as a billiards hall.
Word about the club’s closing spread through Boulder on Wednesday.
Matt Byrne, who co-owned and managed the Foundry from 1999 to 2008, said his favorite memory of venue was its 10th anniversary party, which was headlined by Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
“The Foundry was a great institution and I was glad to be a part of it,” Byrne said. “It’s sad to see it go and it’s going to be a great loss. Maybe someone will reincarnate the room as something just as good.”
