MONROE - The property of a longtime Monroe sports bar and popular music venue is in the process of liquidation this week.
An attorney overseeing the bankruptcy of Ludlow Bar owner Jim Ruf, who filed last year for bankruptcy, confirmed Wednesday she is putting the bar's property at 407 6th St. on the market this week with Madison real estate agent Gary Lukens of First Weber Realtors.
Ruf filed in May 2011 for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to federal court records. County court records indicate he defaulted in 2010 with more than $17,000 in debt on a business credit card associated with Ludlow Bar, plus had more than $25,000 in other debt.
Madison attorney Claire Resop, who is overseeing the bankruptcy, says she plans to pay Ruf's creditors through the sale of his property on 6th Street.
Ruf did not immediately return phone calls on Wednesday for confirmation that he would be closing the bar.
Early Wednesday afternoon, the doors were locked and the lights off. A pedestrian who had planned to pop into the bar for a few minutes while he waited for a ride instead shivered in the entryway.
Ludlow Bar has been a Monroe institution for more than 40 years. Before the bar moved to its current location, it stood next to Brennan's Market at the corner of 8th Street and Wisconsin 69.
The bar provided an oasis for live music for many years in Monroe, agreed several area musicians.
"It was very cherished by a lot of musicians," said Jimmy Voegeli, a rural Monticello resident and frontman of The Jimmys. "I've been going into that bar for 30 years anyway."
Another of Voegeli's bands, The Crashers, played a regular Wednesday night gig there. Scheduled music entertainment "trended in and out" over the years, he added, but Ruf was consistently open to hosting fundraising concerts and the first to step up for community events.
"He never hesitated to say yes: 'You bet! What do we need to do?'"
Neither Voegeli or other members of the now-defunct Crashers said they'd been to the bar recently.
"It's been a while," said bassist John Wartenweiler, of Browntown. Besides music, he remembers Ludlow as the go-to place for sports. "Jim has been a big, rabid sports fan."
Drummer Mauro Magellen, who has also played with The Georgia Satellites, said business at the bar turned spotty the past few years.
"Some nights it would be packed. Some nights it would be pretty skinny," said Magellen, a Miami native who moved to Monroe more than two decades ago.
The Crashers' 2004 album "Love School" was developed at Ludlow Bar over the course of raucous shows. The bar's atmosphere was good for bouncing around creative ideas and getting feedback from the audience, according to Magellen, and it was fostered by Ruf's reputation for making "a conscious effort" to host quality music.
"It had a culture," he said. "You want to feel good there."
An attorney overseeing the bankruptcy of Ludlow Bar owner Jim Ruf, who filed last year for bankruptcy, confirmed Wednesday she is putting the bar's property at 407 6th St. on the market this week with Madison real estate agent Gary Lukens of First Weber Realtors.
Ruf filed in May 2011 for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to federal court records. County court records indicate he defaulted in 2010 with more than $17,000 in debt on a business credit card associated with Ludlow Bar, plus had more than $25,000 in other debt.
Madison attorney Claire Resop, who is overseeing the bankruptcy, says she plans to pay Ruf's creditors through the sale of his property on 6th Street.
Ruf did not immediately return phone calls on Wednesday for confirmation that he would be closing the bar.
Early Wednesday afternoon, the doors were locked and the lights off. A pedestrian who had planned to pop into the bar for a few minutes while he waited for a ride instead shivered in the entryway.
Ludlow Bar has been a Monroe institution for more than 40 years. Before the bar moved to its current location, it stood next to Brennan's Market at the corner of 8th Street and Wisconsin 69.
The bar provided an oasis for live music for many years in Monroe, agreed several area musicians.
"It was very cherished by a lot of musicians," said Jimmy Voegeli, a rural Monticello resident and frontman of The Jimmys. "I've been going into that bar for 30 years anyway."
Another of Voegeli's bands, The Crashers, played a regular Wednesday night gig there. Scheduled music entertainment "trended in and out" over the years, he added, but Ruf was consistently open to hosting fundraising concerts and the first to step up for community events.
"He never hesitated to say yes: 'You bet! What do we need to do?'"
Neither Voegeli or other members of the now-defunct Crashers said they'd been to the bar recently.
"It's been a while," said bassist John Wartenweiler, of Browntown. Besides music, he remembers Ludlow as the go-to place for sports. "Jim has been a big, rabid sports fan."
Drummer Mauro Magellen, who has also played with The Georgia Satellites, said business at the bar turned spotty the past few years.
"Some nights it would be packed. Some nights it would be pretty skinny," said Magellen, a Miami native who moved to Monroe more than two decades ago.
The Crashers' 2004 album "Love School" was developed at Ludlow Bar over the course of raucous shows. The bar's atmosphere was good for bouncing around creative ideas and getting feedback from the audience, according to Magellen, and it was fostered by Ruf's reputation for making "a conscious effort" to host quality music.
"It had a culture," he said. "You want to feel good there."