(COLORADO SPRINGS) — After a fire in a Downtown Colorado Springs building left multiple businesses unable to operate, the owners of Icons Bar are hoping to raise enough money to reopen their LGBTQ+ bar and entertainment space in a new location.

Icons was forced to close alongside numerous other businesses on Dec. 8, 2023, after an accidental fire caused heavy smoke damage to the building. Taste of Jerusalem, Yobel, the Local Honey Collective, and Icons were all forced to close their doors.

Icons owners Josh Franklin and John Wolfe shared a somber update just before the holidays, letting the community know that the bar would remain closed as it was not safe for staff or customers to return. They vowed it would not be the end of Icons, and promised to bounce back, both for the community they love and for the talented staff members they employ.

In an update posted to social media on Tuesday, Feb. 20, Franklin and Wolfe excitedly shared the news that they had found a location for Icons to make its new home.

“Long story short, everybody in the [smoke damaged] building has to go,” said Wolfe in the update. “We started to look around for other spaces, we wanted to stay in the Downtown area, we love Downtown Colorado Springs.”

Icons shared photos of the new location on East Kiowa Street, though Wolfe and Franklin lamented that the space is not laid out in such a way to welcome a bar, and it is going to take considerable investment to renovate.

“It’s not a bar, and bars are very expensive and time consuming to do, so this is going to be a process that we’re going to go through together,” said Wolfe. “We want this to be done right, we want it to be done well for the community.”

And while the owners are excited about the future of Icons, there are still plenty of hoops to jump through before it can once again welcome people from all walks of life. A garage door and rooftop patio are in the works, and those costs will compound with the cost of purchasing the building and all the inspections and licenses that the owners need to obtain.

“We’re taking everything we’ve learned from the past three years, and everything we’ve earned from the past three years, and risking everything again for this community because they’re worth it,” said Franklin. “Currently, there is no gay bar in Colorado Springs, and I think that that sends the wrong message. I think we’ve grown so much, and there’s such a huge community here, and I would hate for the community to feel like there’s not support, not a safe space to gather, and I would hate for visitors to think that that’s what Colorado Springs is about.”

Icons is raising funds to go toward the new location, and you can find out how to help at Icons-CO on Facebook or on their Instagram @icons_colorado. If you aren’t in a position to contribute financially, Icons’ video update posted on Tuesday is a moving tribute to the bar’s accepting environment and its impact on the larger queer community in Colorado Springs, and the owners are hoping the video can gain traction on social media and perhaps grab the attention of a few celebrity queer icons.

“Elton John, I’m talking to you,” teased Franklin.