FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The iconic Fort Lauderdale Irish pub Maguire’s Hill 16 will officially close Sunday at midnight.
The infamous watering hole was purchased by an investment group that owns YOLO and Tarpon Bend.
That group has wanted to buy the place for about two years.
"I am here 18 years and I couldn't turn down the offers. It is time to go and I am 77 years of age," Jim Gregory, the owner of Maguire’s Hill 16, said.
Gregory has run the place for about two decades with his wife, Martine, and son, James.
All week patrons have stopped by for one last drink or a cup of potato soup.
"This is where I met my husband, sitting right there," Linda O’Connor said about the spot where she met her husband about 20 years ago.
O'Connor said the place is like a second home.
"I think either way we are all going to take all the memories that we have had and some we have forgotten," she said.
Part of the delicate deal was that the homey decor had to go with it.
"Leaving everything at the bar. They paid for everything that is here and I am leaving everything as is. I wouldn't touch a thing," Jim Gregory said.
There is a glimmer of hope that the new owners may reopen the pub at some point.
"If it was me I would definitely keep it open because it is a main staple of Fort Lauderdale. You know, it is like a landmark," James Gergory said.
It's an institution that has graced the city for decades.
Now the Gergory family will go back to Ireland to manage pubs there, but they had one last message to their customers.
"We would love to thank them all and if they ever come to Ireland we will always be there with open arms and a pint of Guinness, I am sure," James Gregory said. "Cheers!"