WORCESTER — One Eyed Jack's Tiki Bar & Grill at 433 Park Ave. has been closed since New Year's Eve because the building does not have a sprinkler system, according to the restaurant's owners.

The city says the business has been in violation of a court order and that the fire department has tried to work with the restaurant multiple times to rectify the violations.

In a statement, One Eyed Jack's' owners said the city's fire inspectors would not sign off on the building's 2023 license because the building does not have a sprinkler system.

"I do not own the building so as of now it’s a waiting game to see if we will even survive long enough to reopen," the restaurant said in a social media post.

According to the city's assessors database, the building at 433 Park Ave. is owned by ValueFirst Realty LLC.

David Thacker, owner of One Eyed Jack's, said the closure has left him in rough economic shape.

"We're dead in the water," Thacker said. "We cannot operate or run a business without the landlord following the guidelines of the city department of inspectional services."

Thacker, who is a single father of two, said he has taken up work as a part-time bartender in the meantime and his son, who also worked at One Eyed Jack's, now does not have a job.

After losing his major source of income, Thacker said his phone has been blowing up with calls about past-due bills that he cannot pay.

A GoFundMe page was created for the restaurant Sunday with the intent of helping pay employees out of work and to pay the bills, but by late Monday it had been removed.

A Facebook post offered little explanation, other than the campaign had been "canceled" and "everyone who has donated will be refunded their money."

On Monday, the fire department sent the Telegram & Gazette the following statement: "The establishment known as 'One Eyed Jacks' at 433 Park Avenue is in violation of a court order since September 2, 2022. A court order was issued on August 18, 2022 to rectify building and occupancy violations that are not in compliance with the Massachusetts State Building Code. The violations of the court order are specifically related to public safety and require the business at the subject property to be shut down. The Worcester Fire Department and Division of Inspectional Services have made several attempts to assist the owners in rectifying the violations."

In Thacker's telling, his business went through all of the necessary inspections and received approval for the license, but he then received a call and texts from building and fire inspectors informing him that the license would not be renewed for 2023 until the landlord installs a sprinkler system or brings the building up to code.

One Eyed Jack's has passed the inspections in the prior years since its 2020 opening, Thacker said. He said that inspectors informed him that there were new laws on the books that changed the guidelines for receiving the license.

Thacker said the responsibility of installing the sprinklers or getting the building up to code lies with the owner. He said he felt like a middleman between the city and the landlord.

"Why aren't they telling (the landlord)? Why aren't they pursuing (the landlord)? Why aren't they calling (the landlord)?" Thacker said. "They're making me the middleman."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: One Eyed Jacks Tiki Bar & Grill shut down over lack of sprinklers