Is the Viking Bar ever going to reopen?

For more than six years&mdash;since August 1, 2006, the Viking Bar at Riverside and 19th Avenue South has sat empty. For that same period the marquee over its blue door, the same marquee that once advertised shows featuring &ldquo;Spider&rdquo; John Koerner, the Front Porch Swingin&rsquo; Liquor Pigs, and Willie Murphy, has read &ldquo;GONE FISHING.&rdquo;

Former patrons will tell a story of, for example, Bonnie Raitt stopping by the Viking on her swings through town and will laugh&mdash;but give them time and they&rsquo;ll stare into their beer a bit.

&ldquo;What do you want to happen to that space?&rdquo; I ask.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like it to be a bar again.&rdquo;

Great article by Twin Cities Daily Planet, photo via flickr account of Dean Peterson.