As Nye's nears last call, patrons come to sing its praises
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On April 3, after almost 67 years, the music will come to an end at Nye's Bar and Polonaise Room in Minneapolis. The building is slated to be torn down to make way for an apartment and retail complex.
In its final days, fans of the cultural landmark gathered to order their last fancy cocktails and sing their last songs at the piano bar.
Albin Nye, a machine shop foreman, opened Nye's Bar in 1950. It's a long, narrow space with a tiny stage for live bands at the back.
The bar was successful enough that he was able to buy the adjacent building in 1964, which he turned into Nye's Polonaise Room, a nod to his Polish roots.
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For decades, patrons have been able to choose between taking in live music in the old bar and making some music of their own at the relatively newer piano bar.
On a recent evening, Daina De Prez sat at the piano, an American flag and a painting of Frederic Chopin on the wall behind her. She fielded requests from the room, and as people took turns at the microphone, she accompanied them and sang back-up vocals — from "Danny Boy" to the latest pop hits.
Sitting at one of the stools around the piano was Vera Strandmark, 84, dressed in a brightly colored blouse with a sparkling pin in her hair. She started coming to Nye's with her husband when she was 30.
"They had a piano player here for 45 years; she was wonderful," Strandmark recalled. "Lou — she just passed away — and we used to come sing with her all the time. I'd come maybe twice a week when I was bowling, then I'd come sing with Lou for a while, and then I'd go home."
Strandmark's husband is now in a nursing home with Alzheimer's, but she still comes to sing regularly. "My kids all tell me, 'I know you want to go, so get dressed and go!' So I do," she said.
On this night, Strandmark was singing Patsy Cline's "Crazy," working the room like a pro.
Over the decades, Nye's has developed a reputation for bringing people together from all walks of life. Lawyer Mark Gardner sat at a booth with a couple of friends, applauding the singers while he sipped an old-fashioned.
"It's Americana, it's part of Minnesota, it's a fabric that ties together generations, and it's just a fun place to have a drink," he said.
Gardner's waitress, Roxanne Eggert, has been serving customers at Nye's for nearly 20 years.
"Everybody's pretty sad," she said. "I'm here five nights a week, as are some of the bartenders. We have a lot of time here and make a lot of friends. There's a lot of heart involved in this place — a lot of heart, and that's going to be sad to leave."
Eggert was working harder than ever in these last days, as both regulars and first-timers made their pilgrimage to the Minneapolis landmark.
"Hopefully, when you leave, you'll just have a smile on your face, and you'll see it's more than coming here to dine," she said. "It's the experience of it all. It's really hard to duplicate that."
Nye's closes Sunday after a very full weekend.
