"Fans of Golden Dagger, a Lincoln Park bar and music venue that sustained serious fire damage the day after Thanksgiving, have raised more than $23,000 via GoFundMe to support displaced workers and fix interior damage inside the 127-year-old building at 2447 N. Halsted Street, near DePaul University’s main campus. Owner Donnie Biggins, who announced news of the fire Friday on social media, did not detail the cause of the fire but confirmed that no employees or patrons were injured in the blaze. The space, however, will need significant repairs and its staff will be out of work “for the foreseeable future.” Touched by the flood of financial support, Biggins on Sunday thanked donors for stepping up in his hour of need. “In the past 48 hours we have seen the most heartfelt support from our friends and community,” he wrote on Facebook. “We will never be able to express how much this will mean to us, but we will try.” The previous iteration of the venue, Tonic Room, a bar and late-night hotspot for jam bands, closed permanently in March 2020 when the city shut down indoor dining. Biggins rebranded the business in April as Golden Dagger, an artist-friendly space with early morning hours and an emphasis on coffee and alcohol-free cocktails. It’s named for a spooky-looking dagger found by previous owners that’s rumored to be a relic of the building’s history as a brothel, a speakeasy, and occultist temple. Despite the fire, the dagger remains affixed to the wall." - Naomi Waxman
