The Green Door to close on weekends as co-owner announces search for buyer

MONDAY, June 23 — The Green Door, a Lansing institution on Michigan Avenue for more than three decades, serving up the blues and a wide variety of other music while also thriving as an old-school neighborhood bar and grill, is for sale.

Owner Jen Costigan announced this morning that she is looking for a buyer. Meanwhile, she said she will discontinue live entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of the summer.

“After 34 years of service to The Green Door and the Greater Lansing area, it is time I hang up my Captain’s hat,” she said in a press release that she also posted on the bar’s Facebook page. “While I and the ole girl have weathered many storms and a pandemic, things will be looking a little different upon reopening in the fall. We are presently looking for a buyer to continue carrying the torch for this iconic music venue.”

Costigan invited the community to join her Saturday, June 28, to close out the final weekend of service and entertainment, a farewell party of sorts that will feature the Big Willy Band and Root Doctor, fronted by Freddie Cunningham.

She said that the bar will remain open on Thursdays, “giving the MiLife Sports Club and Jason White DJ & Karaoke a home for the rest of the summer.”

Costigan didn’t give any reason for the decision in the release other than wanting to “start the next chapter of my life” and address knee problems (“before I actually have a peg leg”).

As was the case for many businesses, the pandemic severely tested The Green Door’s livelihood. It closed for about 18 months and eventually reopened on Sept. 24, 2021, operating on a Thursday-through-Saturday schedule. Hiring and retaining staff was a challenge, and the establishment closed the grill and stopped serving food shortly after it reopened. It allowed patrons to order pizza from outside establishments and bring in other food.

The bar’s website notes that The Green Door began as a restaurant called The Green Door Lounge in the mid-1960s. Over the years, it transitioned from offering live music only on weekends to providing live entertainment nightly, as well as hosting special events on Sundays and Mondays. It became known not just as a blues bar but also for its wide variety of music featured in recent years and its lively dance floor.

The Green Door, 2005 E. Michigan Ave., was a perennial winner and top-three placer in City Pulse’s Top of the Town contest.

Costigan has been with the establishment through two ownership changes in the past two decades and has recently served as one of the owners and partners along with Jon Woolston.

She thanked all the musicians and bands that had performed over the years, as well as friends, coworkers, employees, and “the best customers ever.”

“Most of you have become GD familia. I will never forget you.”