Tower Bar
On November 29, a person driving a white Toyota Prius crashed into the Tower Bar in City Heights. The 90-plus-year-old punk rock concert venue was struck so hard that the bar inside moved a couple of inches, but nobody was injured.
Mick Rossler, owner of the place, said to me that the Prius driver was evading police and running red lights westbound on University, then lost control and hit a Honda heading the other way just east of Euclid Friday night. “Westbound there’s poor visibility coming up that hill. A lady was hit by there as well.”
This was the third time someone crashed into the circa 1932 art-deco building, which Rossler purchased in 2002.
Rossler recollected the second time his bar was hit, “that was a lot more damage in 2017. From what I understand, the second time, someone [collided] into the back of a police SUV, and then the police SUV crashed through the front of our building. I was about three blocks away and was able to run over.”
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In 1964 a car smashed into the entrance, killing a patron sitting at the cocktail lounge.
The first time someone crashed into the former diner, beauty shop, and tattoo parlor was in 1964, when a car smashed into the entrance, killing a patron sitting at the cocktail lounge. Black and white images scanned from the San Diego Union-Tribune are posted on the Tower Bar’s website.
Back to the recent 2023 crash, a video was posted on the dive bar’s Instagram page and captioned, “Third time’s a charm.” The Prius is depicted already smashed into the blue-and-red colored building, and police sirens are blaring in the background while a police officer is assessing the car. Lookyloos and additional SDPD are on the scene.
The original story was published in the print edition of the San Diego Reader on December 21, 2023.
One of the IG viewers commented that someone crashed into a nearby nail business. Another said in 2017, a truck crashed into the Lotus Garden, a now-defunct Chinese restaurant across the street and just west of the bar.
“It’s a crazy intersection configuration,” Jim Peters said in a recent interview. “That part where Reno comes into University, and by Euclid and University. Drivers have too little time to turn when the lights turn red, so people speed up and down a lot trying to beat the lights.” Peters has lived and worked in the area since the 1990s and refers to the intersections with no left turn signals. “There are lots of blind spots, plus very poor lighting. Why hasn’t the city improved this area even with the increased taxes for street/traffic improvements?”
Rossler, owner of the Tower Bar, agrees with Peters’ assessment — in part. “University Avenue, [particularly] to our east, was the number one street for pedestrian fatalities. They decided to put roundabouts, and it looks like it’s finally getting close to being finished with additional crosswalk lights. A lady by the bus stop, too, was killed, then to the left of us, two cars went into that [building]. Driving west on University, there’s bad visibility on the hill.
Peters continued, “That hill leading to that orange building [Mucha Fruta Taqueria y Fruteria] is the one.”
Tiffany, a local motorcyclist, said the Tower Bar is a “prominent-looking building and is a distraction.”
The 90-plus-year-old punk rock concert venue was struck so hard that the bar inside moved a couple of inches, but nobody was injured.
But the locals say the city of San Diego doesn’t tend to City Heights’ streets and lighting as quickly as other parts of town. Peters explained, “Bro, with GetItDone, take a look; they take forever to assess our broken street lights and potholes. If this [same] shit is happening in North Park to the west or Kensington, they (the city employees) are quick to fix the problems.”
San Diego Police reportedly said 19-year-old Ahmed Shire, driver of the white Prius that struck the Tower Bar, initially ran a stop sign and then fled when a traffic stop was initiated. He was later arrested.
Rossler said they are back in business, and the punk rock shows in his bar continue as this article goes to print.
He said, “The night that it happened, the fire department sent out an inspector, and the car missed the corner of the building by half a foot, which would’ve been bad.”