Fire Destroys Kalamazoo’s Sports Forum Restaurant/Sports Bar

An early Thursday morning fire partially destroyed The Sports Forum restaurant and bar on Mosel Ave.

According to MLive, firefighters arrived around 4:30 Thursday morning, and due to the fire's intensity and the possibility of the roof collapsing, were only able to fight the fire from outside.

The building was apparently empty at the time of the blaze and no one was injured in the blaze.

An official cause for the fire has not been determined, but at mid-afternoon, fire officials and investigators were on the scene.

The long time establishment has been a not only a place to have dinner, but also, a post game stopping off point for softball players from nearby Versluis-Dickinson Field. The establishment dated back to the 1950's according to posters on popular Facebook site, Vanished Kalamazoo. It was known originally as "The Diamond" and in the late 1970's -1950's, "Franzone's", a stop for workers from the paper mills and many a third shift worker would stop in for breakfast.