Historic Maz bar, home to an epic weekly karaoke evening and pool tables and unpretentious chatter might be closing after decades of serving beer.
Part-owner Peter White (cousin of the legendary Dunie Ryan) and his girlfriend are selling their interests in the bar near Marcil and Sherbrooke (just west of NDG Park) as retirement beckons.
One set of promising-looking negotiations to take over have stalled, as the would-be purchasors deemed that the estimated investment required to upgrade the place can't be justified by current revenues.
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The building is not for sale but the landlord is said to be willing to give a 10-year extension to the bar operation.
The bar was home to the legendary Ma Heller whose support of young West End soldiers during World War II was legendary.
Heller, a "white haired pin-up girl"came to Canada from Romania in 1930.
In 1940 Heller launched Heller's Gang, an honour list of kids from NDG serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.
If you were a regular visitor to Ma's ice cream parlour and enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces during the war effort, then your name was hung on the wall.
Her list of names got up to 726, 21 of them being girls. Sadly, 47 of those soldiers were killed. Heller was supportive in all aspects of their lives, she'd lend them money for dates and received up to 300 fan mail letters per week.
When a strip club opened in what's now the defunct Empress Theatre in 1961, Heller bucked local disapproval and said that military veterans should have this sort of entertainment around the area
Darryl Zanuck, was considering making a movie based on her life in 1945. Heller said that if any movie happened she would give any proceeds to support crippled servicemen.
(If anybody has any other pertinent information or pix, please send them to megaforce at the gmail).
The bar has been running since, although it was called the Festival Restaurant in the 1980s.
Part-owner Peter White (cousin of the legendary Dunie Ryan) and his girlfriend are selling their interests in the bar near Marcil and Sherbrooke (just west of NDG Park) as retirement beckons.
One set of promising-looking negotiations to take over have stalled, as the would-be purchasors deemed that the estimated investment required to upgrade the place can't be justified by current revenues.
The building is not for sale but the landlord is said to be willing to give a 10-year extension to the bar operation.The bar was home to the legendary Ma Heller whose support of young West End soldiers during World War II was legendary.
Heller, a "white haired pin-up girl"came to Canada from Romania in 1930.
In 1940 Heller launched Heller's Gang, an honour list of kids from NDG serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.
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| Ma Heller |
Her list of names got up to 726, 21 of them being girls. Sadly, 47 of those soldiers were killed. Heller was supportive in all aspects of their lives, she'd lend them money for dates and received up to 300 fan mail letters per week.
When a strip club opened in what's now the defunct Empress Theatre in 1961, Heller bucked local disapproval and said that military veterans should have this sort of entertainment around the area
Darryl Zanuck, was considering making a movie based on her life in 1945. Heller said that if any movie happened she would give any proceeds to support crippled servicemen.
(If anybody has any other pertinent information or pix, please send them to megaforce at the gmail).
The bar has been running since, although it was called the Festival Restaurant in the 1980s.