BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo community is in mourning after the loss of an Allentown institution.

“We were an empty canvas where you could paint your life,” said Eric Van Rysdam, DJ at The Old Pink.

As the sun set on a day without The Old Pink, drinks were raised and poured out at the remains of the bar.

“Every single person can come in here and find someone like them and that's rare," said customer LaRue Heutmaker.

After an early morning fire on Monday, the building was declared a total loss. The community later came to say goodbye.

“It was a really interesting ecosystem of music and culture and personalities, and it's something that Buffalo is losing like slowly, but to have it taken away — like this is it's just brutal," said Van Rysdam.

Everyone there had a story.

“We are a place where a lot of decisions were made,” Van Rysdam said.

There were drunken mishaps.

“I had this little partial denture with two fake teeth and it fell out of my mouth and I flushed it down the toilet," said Heutmaker.

There were also budding love stories.

“We started dating eight years ago and the first time he brought me to Buffalo, he brought me here," said customer Olivia Chadwick.

The pieces of The Old Pink live on — and not just in people’s hearts.

“That’s the best part of the whole thing…collect the asbestos, cherish it," laughed Liam Kane, another customer at The Old Pink, referencing people taking bricks and other pieces from the rubble.

There is no replacing this place.

“Where are we going to end up now if we don't have the fans to show up at like two, three in the morning?" asked Kane.

So now, it’s just celebrating the time that they had.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.