Garage Door Saloon forced to close after City condemns building

The city of Pittsburgh’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections condemned the building which houses the popular Garage Door Saloon on Monday.

The bar, located at 223 Atwood St., has been operational since 2006. The City notice on the bar’s door stated that the building is not fit for human occupancy and the structure either needed to be demolished or repaired.

The City assigned an investigation into the building on July 15 according to public data, and performed the investigation on July 21. An engineer’s report from Taylor Structural Engineers, Inc., found unsafe conditions, including ceiling collapse and roof deterioration. The City inspected the building again on Aug. 18, where unsafe conditions were found again due to a partial ceiling collapse. The official notice of condemnation was posted on the bar’s doors Monday.

Kate Gold, a graduate student in Pitt’s speech language pathology program, graduated from Pitt in 2020 and has memories at the bar, including spending her 21st birthday there and enjoying G Door’s signature pickle shots. According to Gold, the bar was always packed with a line around the corner. She said she was surprised to hear that the building was condemned as she never felt unsafe while in the building.

“I never felt like [the roof] would collapse. It was just kind of gross because it’s a smoking bar. But I never felt unsafe like that,” Gold said.