A lawsuit filed in Hennepin County last week reveals the 19 Bar owner Gary Lee Hallberg was about to sell the building before it caught fire this spring. Hallberg is suing Lakeshore Recycling Systems for $2.8 million in losses and damages his building sustained at 19 W. 15th St. after a recycling truck backed into an electrical pole, toppling it over and sparking a fire on the 19 Bar's roof in March.

The inside of 19 Bar in May as the bar was being rebuilt. Photo by Taylor Dahlin

The fire led to a "total loss" of the building and a planned sale of the building was called off, according to the lawsuit. Lakeshore Recycling Systems denies the building was a total loss. A GoFundMe campaign raised money for 19 Bar employees when the bar suddenly closed in March.  

Hallberg is planning to reopen 19 Bar and told the Star Tribune it may happen by New Year's Eve.