CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - Gone too soon, the Midtown building in Champaign that used to be Chester Street Bar is now partially collapsed.  

"Chester Street was amazing ... made so many memories, a lifetime of memories," said Amy Myers, who worked at Chester Street Bar for 26 years. It was more than a job. It was a place she belonged.

"When I first moved here from a small town I remember walking in and seeing thousands of people like me like, oh my god, there’s more than just me and it was just a place of home," Myers said. 

The bar on 63 Chester Street was known as LGBTQ+ friendly. It's a space where everyone was accepted. Myers said she came from a small town where it was hard for her to be accepted.

"My lifestyle wasn’t very accepting but I came here and I met I made friends and people who are family now," Myers said.

C-Street Bar gave her a new home. 

Leslie Szczesniak-Krause worked at C-Street for 12 years, he said the bar was "a community space that everyone to come to, feel like they should be themselves no matter what so this is a terrible loss for the community."

He's heartbroken to see what was once a place of comfort, now crumbling down. 

The bar closed in 2017. According to city records, it was bought out by Cochrane Properties. The city of Champaign said it's up to the owner to clean up the area.

WAND News reached out to Cochrane for a statement about what is to come of the property but did not hear back.

Myers said the 2017 closure was a shock.

"I worked that last night. We had a drag show that night in the side bar and it was packed. Nobody told us until the next morning," Myers said. 

Champaign firefighters were called in Saturday evening, when they got on scene, they say the building had already partially collapsed. Randy Smith with the fire department said they "quickly checked the area and then deployed the department drone to get a better view of what is going on inside of it."

Luckily, no one was inside. The building was empty and no one was hurt. 

Many residents tell WAND News they are wondering what will happen next, but they hope the history of C-Street bar stays alive. 

"It’s just sad that it was gutted out and just sad ... a piece of history that will be remembered forever," Myers said. 

There is no known cause of the partial collapse. Â