DAVENPORT – Mary’s on 2nd, the Quad Cities’ only LGBTQ+ bar, may be on its way to reopening now that its owner has pulled a permit to complete overdue repairs on large exterior wall cracks, according to an inspection report first issued seven months ago.
The cracks and also bowing walls, gaps and loose masonry first caused the city to close the bar in November, in response to an anonymous complaint, said Richard Oswald, director of development and neighborhood services. “City staff went and looked at it, required we get a structural engineer report, and listed a bunch of repairs. We allowed them to be open with the understanding they had seven months to complete all the repairs.”
But after the agreed-upon timeline passed without a permit pulled for the work, the city posted a notice on Mary’s front door Tuesday closing the bar indefinitely.
Mary’s on 2nd owner Bobby Stansberry, after sharing a variety of reactions on social media, said Friday he “accepted full responsibiilty” for the delay in repairs. He pulled a permit for the work Wednesday.
“It’s all my fault,” he wrote in a Facebook message. “It’s all on me. It’s my responsibility to get taken care of.”
The cracks are among seven concerns about the building noted in the November 2023 report required by the city and conducted by structural engineer Alan Lukens of Klingner & Assoc., based in Davenport.
In the report, Lukens emphasized that none of the concerns indicated the building at 830-832 W. 2nd St. was in danger of collapse.
“Except for these isolated issues, overall, the building is structurally sound,” Lukens writes. “The observations and recommendations above are limited to what was visible at the time of the evaluation. The possibility exists of other defects or problems, which were not identifiable by visual evaluation.”
He separated the issues into those that needed to be fixed within seven months, and those that needed repair within two years. The latter category includes brick cracks in the exterior northeast wall base; half-inch gaps between second-floor base trim and the north wall; and a crack between the north exterior brick wall and an interior wall that’s causing the wall to bow.
Especially because June is Pride month, and because the Quad Cities has no other explicitly LGBTQ+-identified bar, the closing has triggered fiery reactions on Facebook in response to Mary’s on 2nd posts about it. Many of the 72 comments on the bar’s post announcing its closing speculated that homophobia, prejudice, disgruntled neighbors, “corruption,” politics and more were to blame.
Some comments from Mary’s on 2nd since Tuesday had fueled that speculation, including a reference Friday to “the sad state of Davenport and its corruption.” But Friday morning, after initially expressing a sense of victimhood, Stansberry said repeatedly that the repairs were his responsibility, and the closing was his own fault.
A handful of commenters on social media praised the city for being more proactive in trying to find and address structural concerns with buildings in need of repair. As of Friday, all posts and comments about the bar’s closing appear to have been removed from the page.
Davenport is under nationwide scrutiny since last May, when a six-story downtown apartment building with bowed walls, loose bricks and mortar, and cracks on exterior walls collapsed, killing three and severely injuring eight. Follow-up investigations determined that poor decisions by contractors, inadequate monitoring of the repairs by a qualified professional, inadequate previous repairs, and lack of documentation of the repairs were factors in the building’s eventual collapse.
Mary’s has had to close several times in recent years. That includes in 2020, because of COVID; in 2019, when a levee burst along the Mississippi River and flooded the bar along with several other downtown Davenport businesses; and in 2018, when a speeding car rammed into the front of the bar, causing it to be closed and requiring significant repairs.
In 2023, a group of patrons joined together and helped the bar protect against more damage from flood waters generated from melting snow.
Stansberry said Friday he’s not yet sure of the timeline for the bar’s reopening. Mary’s on 2nd opened in 2000 and is currently the only LGBTQ+ bar in the seven-city Quad Cities metropolitan area. In addition to a daily happy hour, the bar hosts weekly Trivia, Karaoke and Euchre Tournament nights, plus community fundraisers and other special events. Learn more about it and watch for updates on its reopening at its Facebook page.
