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Patrons bid farewell to beloved bar
By TRACY SWARTZ GAINESVILLE -- It smelled of cheap beer, grease and football. With its hole-in-the-wall atmosphere, the Purple Porpoise invited college students to crowd into its nooks, meet new friends and make memories. The popular watering hole across from the University of Florida's football stadium was a landmark in this sports-crazed town. No more. The Porpoise, a pub near campus, closed its doors last week as it undergoes a management change, hoping to lure a more fashionable college student clientele that frequents trendy downtown clubs. But the current clientele -- a mix of locals, UF students and alumni -- worry Porpoise traditions will fall by the wayside with the club's final dance. "It was kind of that rock that was there from when we were there," said Terri Parnell, a 36-year-old Tampa resident. "The good times we remember are the Purple Porpoise. It's really the only memories we have as alums." The day the pub announced it was closing, the 1988 UF graduate said she received 12 e-mails from friends in Atlanta, Orlando and Tampa lamenting the tavern's demise. Parnell described the Porpoise as something akin to the bar in Cheers, known for drink specials and the ability to attract an eclectic mix of Gators fans during home game weekends. "When you went to the Purple Porpoise, you knew that people you went to college with would be there," she said. 'It's always been 'I'll meet you at the Porpoise.' " It's where Jennifer Turtzo, a 21-year-old junior from Clearwater, spent her first three years in college visiting with friends. She watched her favorite local bands play in the smoky back room, jammed shoulder-to-shoulder with drunken college students. "It's everyone's first stop in college," said Turtzo, a graduate of Countryside High School. "I just can't believe it's closing." Turtzo and hundreds of other loyal patrons bid farewell Thursday to the club, which maintained its coveted location across from Florida Field for more than 20 years. "It's a home for the homeless and a family for the lonely," proclaimed 20-year-old Porpoise cook Danny Hughes to those who gathered to celebrate before the club's trademark neon purple lights shut down for the final time. The crowd hushed -- unusual for this bar -- while locals said a prayer and lit a candle for their dying friend. Funerals for traditional Gainesville institutions have become commonplace during the past few years. Joe's Deli, a popular restaurant across from the stadium, closed last year and was replaced with Cluck-U Chicken. Local music venues the Hardback Cafe and the Covered Dish were also transformed into swank nightclubs, to fit in with the polished downtown scene. And now the Porpoise will be retooled and renamed Gator Ugly to try to seduce the see-and-be-seen crowd to the University Avenue Strip. The club will remain open while employees remodel and renovate for the January premiere. "You want to get the college students," said Porpoise security manager Joey Bissinnar. "So it will be a totally new place and new environment." Although Bissinnar believes the Porpoise regulars eventually will adjust, alumni such as Tampa resident Rikin Shah likely will miss the dive's unmistakable traditions. "It was a great time, a great social atmosphere," said Shah, a 2000 UF graduate. "It's one of those places that the name in itself was synonymous with Gainesville."
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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