It was always more than a bar.

For the Arlington Inn’s regulars, it was a place where, over a beer or two, lasting friendships were forged and the good times rolled.

And there was the music. The dimly lit bar echoed with the blues and rock the way it was meant to be played. It was the kind of place where road-tested acts like Prism, Harlequin or Kim Mitchell would crank out decades-old hits and rub shoulders and maybe share a beer with their fans between sets.

Sometime after last call early Saturday morning the lights were to be switched off for the last time in the ground-floor bar of the city’s oldest hotel. The 110-year-old hotel has been bought by the city and will be torn down to make way for future development.

Linda Roth, 51, said the music is one of the things she will miss most.

“It’s just a place where a lot of people learnt to sing and jam and play guitar,” said Roth, who has taken the stage a few times herself to sing.

There were plenty of great acts that rolled through over the years and made themselves at home.

“I was sitting across the table from the lead singer from Prism,” said Roth, still chuckling at the memory. “He was eating crab because he loves crab.”

Other faves included long-time Canadian rock/blues man Jerry Doucette and self-proclaimed Disciple of the Blues, Texas-born Sonny Rhodes.

Dan Dobbie, 48, remembers one band that took pity on a fan whose girlfriend couldn’t get into the bar.

“The guy’s girlfriend was too young so they wouldn’t let her inside. This guy took the whole band outside to play for them.”

The Arlington has been his bar for longer than he can remember. “I don’t know, years. I couldn’t even guess.”

He doesn’t know where he’s going to go now.

“There’s no place left for anybody to go.

“Across the street is too rowdy. All the rest of them are pretty much nightclubs for the younger crowd. Other than that, it’s pretty much sports bars.”

The Arlington is different.

“It was just a bar for the older crowd. Actually, it’s the last bar for the older crowd. Everybody who comes here, they all know each other.”

Roth agrees something worth saving will be lost when the doors are locked.

“The sad part is there are so many seniors and locals. It’s a meeting place,” she said.

“Even if you go out to other bars and lounges it’s not as friendly. It’s a different atmosphere.”

Albert Tiffin, 46, is sure how he feels about losing a bar he called his own for 28 years. “I say it sucks.”

The friends, customers and bar staff are what made it special and he’s not sure where he will go to find the same kind of place.

“I never thought about it,” he said, adding he’ll pick a new spot “when the time is right.”

Head bartender Don Heater said staff knew the Arlington’s days were numbered, but word the bar was closing after Friday came suddenly.

“Yesterday we got word,” said Heater, 53, who has poured drinks for 21 years. “It was a bit of a shock. We thought it would be the end of the month.”

That’s when the remaining six or seven residents living in upstairs suites have to be out. Once, 24 people called the Arlington home.

Ten staff still work at the Arlington and some took the news hard, said Heater.

“A lot of them were devastated, pretty much — especially for the other ones who haven’t got a job yet.”

Heater and a couple of other staff have lined up new jobs but about half a dozen will be hitting the pavement soon to find work. Two or three staff will stay on until the end of the month, when the sale of the hotel to the city becomes final.

“We were kind of going to have a farewell party. But you can’t put one on in less than a day.”

He admits it’s been tough to accept that a place where he once thought he would retire from will shut its doors.

“It kind of breaks my heart. There’s been so much stuff going on here.”

He’s outlasted five owners and six managers and has become such a fixture that he’s been made part of every sale.

“Every time they sell the place they don’t sell it unless Don goes with it,” he said with a grin.

Contact Paul Cowley at pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com