The Avalanche Bar

Named after the football team, which dissolved in 1960, the bar moved into its location in 1946. Throughout its sixty years in business, the Avalanche’s neighbors ranged from a Laundry Mat, to restaurants, to a small grocery store. Student Michael Keating, class of 1997, described the bar as “kind of funky, kind of dirty, but also very fun and very cheap." The drink of choice for many was Red, White & Blue Beer. Cheap enough to purchase with “couch change" students would commonly smash their bottles against the wall. This tradition subsided as the notorious naked beer slide took its place. The time-honored, if somewhat dangerous, ritual ended in 1991 when a female student was caught by undercover Milwaukee police.

In an effort to revitalize the community after crime in the neighborhood had decreased enrollment, Marquette launched the redevelopment initiative known as Campus Circle. As part of this initiative, the Avalanche Bar was demolished in favor of on-campus housing (what is now Campus Town East Apartments). The decision to close the bar was a controversial one, especially among Marquette University students. Campus Circle cited “rowdy patrons and vandalism” as the reason behind the contentious decision. When the bar officially closed on April 24, 1997, it was a sad day for the many loyal patrons of the ‘Lanche. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, junior, Corie Simmons said, “it’s a tradition, it’s part of campus and it will be hard to see it go."