Zanzibar owner vows to rebuild ‘bigger and better’ after fire compromises landmark building

The owner of the iconic Zanzibar Tavern says he plans to reopen “stronger, bigger and better” after an early-morning three-alarm fire caused substantial damage to the landmark building on Yonge Street.

Fire crews were called to 359 Yonge Street just after 6 a.m., and were immediately met by heavy smoke and flames coming from the roof area of the building.

“Crews then began an offensive attack and search and rescue operations inside the premises. They did experience heavy flames on the second floor and the roof area,” said Toronto Fire Division Commander John Davidson. “We do have a compromise of the building.”

Footage from the scene shows multiple broken windows and scorch marks across the gold-glazed tiles that adorn the outside of the building.

No one was inside at the time of the blaze and no injuries were reported.

Toronto’s fire chief praised the decisions made by fire officials at the scene of the early morning blaze, saying it likely “saved the rest of this block.”

“I’ve been upstairs, I’ve seen the damage,” Jessop said in a Sunday afternoon update. “It is incredible that the other buildings are still standing right now, and that is for one reason, because of the incredible work of the Toronto Fire Service.”

Jessop went on to explain the challenges of fighting a fire, pointing out the dense nature of the structures in this part of the city.

“That fire was a deep seeded fire, there’s deep charring which caused a portion of the building to collapse. And the very fact that the other two buildings right now are sound – there is some damage, there’s some water and smoke damage for sure – but there is no substantive structural damage that I can tell at this point. That is because of the quick decisions made by the incident commander and by the aggressive, interior attack of our firefighters.”

Jessop said that portions of the roof have collapsed and damage to the structure is “substantive” and it will be up to chief building official of the City of Toronto to determine the structural integrity of the building and any other actions that might need to be taken to the building proper.

“The investigation into the origin, cause and circumstances has commenced …but at this point there is nothing to suggest this is suspicious,” said Jessop.

The Office of the Fire Marshal tells CityNews they are aware of the incident, however, they will not be investigating the circumstances of the fire at this time.

Crowds gathered throughout the day outside the iconic venue, taking photos and expressing shock and surprise at what transpired.

“It’s really heartbreaking,” said Zain Jaffery, who opened a cannabis shop next door to Zanzibar two months ago. He says he got a text around 6 a.m. Sunday morning alerting him to the fire.

“Checked the cameras, saw that there was smoke all in the hallway. What I understand, there’s water damage and some smoke damage. Going to have to wait until I get inside to find out more details.”

Jaffery adds he’s uncertain about when he’ll be able to reopen.

“I’ve got a lot of people working here, they’re going to be out of a job until we get this thing sorted out.”

“I recognize the historic nature of the building and its significance to the Downtown Yonge street scape,” area councillor Chris Moise wrote in a statement. “My office will reach out to the property owner in the coming days to offer any assistance that we can following this tragic incident.”

The tavern’s owner spoke to CityNews outside of the building on Sunday and said he and his employees are devastated by the fire.

“We probably have about 30 regular employees, but we also have 100, 200 dancers per week who also earn a living there, so we have a lot of people we support,” said Allen Cooper, a second generation owner of the club.

“We’re reeling at Zanzibar and we hope for the best,” he added. “It could have been worse, thankfully nobody got hurt.”

Cooper said the tavern is part of an “essential industry” with historic value. He promised to reopen “stronger, bigger and better.”

The tavern was known as a fine dining restaurant before Allen’s father and another family member bought it in the 1960s. Over the next few decades, they transformed it into a live music venue and ultimately a strip club, mirroring the transformation of that section of Yonge Street in the 1970s, which became known as a centre of the sex industry.

An institution in the adult entertainment industry in the city, the tavern hosted a COVID vaccine clinic in 2021 for sex workers and other marginalized groups that had been adversely affected by the pandemic.