Tragedy closes Monks Cafe, in Philly

UPDATE 2009.09.04: Monk's has re-opened.

Jack Curtin reports that the Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been, at least temporarily, shut down.

The entire building in which the famed bar is located has been vacated after two people fell from a fourth-floor fire escape balcony early this morning when the rusted out railing broke. The man is dead, the woman in critical condition. TV reports say the building already has several other fire safety violations.

Curtin has updated with this:

I have an email from [owner] Tom Peters which says that the restaurant part of the building is okay and has no defects and that Monk’s should reopen Monday or Tuesday.

Monks Cafe is one of the original Belgian beer bistros in the US —if not the original. I remember having my first ever Hannsen's Oude Gueuze there, in a hand-labeled bottle, and being smitten, permanently.

Follow Jack Curtin's blog —Liquid Diet— for more.

• UPDATE 2009.08.31: The Phildadelphia Inquirer reports: "the repairs would take at least two weeks."
• UPDATE 2009.08.31: Lew Bryson reminds us to "spare a prayer or thought" for the person who died, and his friend, in critical condition.
• UPDATE 2009.08.31: The Philadelphia Beer Bars Examiner suggests that "a benefit fund could be established to aid the victims and their families."