Looking back on Windsor's once 'vibrant' bar scene

Older millennials will vividly recall their younger years when hearing the wordsDante's, Peppers, or Papa Cheney's.

The bar scene in Windsor was booming 15 years ago, with about 60 bars in a 1-km radius downtown. Before that, prior to 9/11, it was a place many Canadians and younger Americans would come to drink. But much has changed in Windsor's downtown.

Aaron Wrotkowski was talking with a friend last week about the bars and clubs that were in Windsor in the mid-2000s. They couldn't remember the name of former hot spot, bringing Wrotkowski to remember he had some old photos he took at a previous job.

"I have all the bars on a hard drive somewhere. I could probably find it. So I was going through my hard drive and I eventually found it and I was like, 'Wow ...I'd love to just post a few [that] would give people a taste,'" he said.

After posting a handful of the photos online, they took off, being shared hundreds of times. Wrotkowski said he's happy to bring a little nostalgia.

Windsor's downtown looks very different than what it did even a decade ago. The former Box Office, which was previously a Don Cherry's, is now being turned into housing. Wrotokowski said many Americans would frequent the bar, which featured R&B music. Now, the location has traded the music for the noise of construction.

Looking back on what the downtown once was

3 years ago

Duration 0:40

Aaron Wrotkowski recalls the former Loop bar as an eclectic spot that felt like the hub of the downtown.

"It would be a fun experience for somebody who used to go there to actually live there now like, to be living underneath that. I hope it's a positive experience for them, or some sort of nostalgia," he said.

But his favourite of all the bars was the Loop. It was located on Ferry Street in a building that had multiple bars inside, including the Coach & Horses, Pogos and the Fish Market. Wrotokowski remembers it as a place that drew an eclectic crowd where everyone just had fun.

"For me personally, it was a comfortable, inviting atmosphere. I used to be able to come down when I wasn't living in Windsor. I would come down here, go to the bar at 11, not even tell any of my friends and I knew my friends would be there. So I very rarely had a bad time," he said.

It's great experiences. It's funny memories.-Aaron Wrotkowski

Former owner operator of the Loop Group, Jay Zeman, said it was a wonderful barthat everyone treated like "home base."

"Windsor had such a vibrant culture," he said.

A generation of regulars would come into to the bar, according to Zeman. Parents would come in with their children toward the end. Even people who may have gotten married and stopped going to bars would returnafter a divorce.

"They would just integrate right back in because they would always see one of their old friends, or it was a very accepting environment," Zeman said.

Although the downtown he knew was vibrant,he said it's now "a shadow of its former self."

Wrotokowski said he feels bad for the younger generation who aren't going to have the same experiences.

"You never want that comparison of ...the older millennials to the zoomers ...where it's like, 'Well, you know, I wish you had it, how I had it kind of thing,'" he said."I really wish they could have experienced it because most people like just seeing how many people have shared the photos. It's great experiences. It's funny memories."

Wrotokowski is hopeful the nostalgia may lead to inspiration to bring the former downtown area back.

"There's some new places with a really great aesthetic and experience. And I hope that they find something similar to what I got to experience, but for their own generation."