Old Torrance has more than its share of long-standing restaurants. But it turns out that one of its more modern-looking buildings, the current home of Keegan’s Sports Bar and Grill at 1434 Marcelina Ave., has a longer history than one might expect.
The building has been remodeled several times since John M. Christensen and his wife Selma opened Christy’s Cafe there on Dec. 13, 1940. The new location was situated directly across from the city’s post office, which had opened in 1935.
The Christensens already had a history of running a food service business in downtown Torrance. They opened their first cafe and soda fountain at 1405 Sartori Ave. in 1924. It proved popular enough for the couple to move the business to a larger location at 1401 Sartori, on the southwest corner of Sartori and Marcelina, in 1928.
During their twelve years at that spot, the Christensens built Christy’s Cafe into a popular local gathering place. In August 1940, the couple announced that construction had begun on the site of a new, expanded Christy’s Cafe just down Marcelina across from the post office.
The new $20,000 building contained a fountain, grill, cocktail bar and a mezzanine banquet area for larger groups. The 34-by-84-foot restaurant and cafe had a Colonial-style facade. It opened for business on Dec. 13, 1940.
Unfortunately for the Christensens, the advent of World War II a year later slowed their business, and made recouping their investment in the new building problematic. Christy’s Cafe struggled on for almost five years at its Marcelina location, but its owners regretfully announced its permanent closure for financial reasons on Sept. 22, 1945.
Enter William Vurpillat. The Hermosa Beach businessman had opened the Vurpillat Hotel at 840 The Strand in Hermosa in June 1923, right on the beach. (The still-operating hotel celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.)
After serving time in prison for mail fraud in 1925, Vurpillat turned his attention toward opening night clubs and cocktail lounges. He owned Vurpillat’s Cafe on Pier Ave. in Hermosa Beach before moving it to 1528 Cravens Ave. in Torrance in March 1941. In addition to the dining area, Vurp’s had an adjoining cocktail lounge.
It didn’t take Vurpillat long to move his Torrance operation into the former Christy’s Cafe site after the Christensens closed up shop. In fact, he announced plans to move in two days before Christy’s closed its doors for good.
His plans included a complete remodel of the restaurant which he estimated would cost $17,000. The remodel involved adding additional booths in the cafe and the cocktail lounge, lengthening the lounge bar to 40 feet and converting an upstairs storage room into a balcony with private dining.
Vurp’s had a capacity of 120 people, and 30 employees were hired to staff it. Its grand opening took place on Nov. 29, 1945. In 1946, the new eatery’s name was shortened to Vurp’s Cafe.
The restaurant and cocktail lounge would operate under the same Vurp’s Cafe name for the next 50 years, though its management changed many times. During the 1950s and 1960s, the emphasis was on nightlife. Dancing to live music in the cocktail lounge was emphasized in Vurp’s advertising.
By the 1980s, time had begun to take its toll on the Old Torrance downtown area. It had become run-down and attracted fewer and fewer customers to its shops and eateries.
In 1992, the city began a downtown redevelopment program aimed at sprucing up its drab image and attracting new businesses to spark commerce. Gradually, the area began to turn around. By 1996, more than two dozen new businesses had opened there.
One businessman who noticed the trend was Ireland-born Matt Keegan. In May 1995, Keegan bought Vurp’s Cafe and announced plans to transform it into Keegan’s Irish Pub. He invested more than $150,000 into renovating the tired cafe and lounge from top to bottom.
Two years later, he got permission from the city to build a 2,400-square-foot outdoor patio dining area and beer garden where an alley once stood.
The revamped nightspot attracted customers with karaoke nights, ladies nights, live music Fridays and DJs on Saturday with Sunday.
Keegan sold the bar and restaurant to Sean Willett in 2001, who decided to keep the Keegan’s name. In recent years, the owners have begun to appeal to sports fans, renaming the business Keegan’s Sports Lounge and Grill and offering viewing amenities that include 35 television sets.
The building that houses Keegan’s has undergone many transformations since Christy’s Cafe first opened there in 1940, but it continues to serve hungry and thirsty customers – and sports fans – more than eight decades later.