The Riot Room, located in historic Westport, closes after 13 years
The Riot Room has closed after 13 years.
The bar, located in the Westport entertainment district, closed on Friday, owner Tim Gutschenritter told The Star.
After closing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gutschenritter said the venue didn’t receive the grant money it needed to survive from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The U.S. Small Business Administration set up the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program to help sustain businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses like The Riot Room had to close down during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to help stop the spread of the spread of a virus that has now killed more than 700,000 people in the U.S.
Gutschenritter said The Riot Room had a temporary lease agreement with their landlord, who in the end decided to lease the space to someone else, he said.
“It’s pretty disappointing man, we’ve been there almost 15 years,” Gutschenritter said. “We’ve really dedicated our lives to the culture and arts in Kansas City.”
The Riot Room opened at the location of a former bar called the Hurricane. The venue offered live music at an indoor stage and patio stage. The occupancy for indoors and outdoors was 300 people. Gutschenritter said he’s proud of what the bar meant to Kansas City.
“I feel like we were very adaptive over the years for the way that the industry moved from an international, national scale and stay as cutting edge as possible,” Gutschenritter said. “The people of Kansas City are our heart so I’m super proud that we got to go as long as we did and I’m even more proud of the impact that we made in the city and the community.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 8:21 AM.
