CHATSWORTH, CA — “I love this bar,” country music star Toby Keith sang about the Cowboy Palace Saloon in Chatsworth.

So do countless Angelenos, who for decades have flocked to the down-home Old West saloon for cold drinks and the chance to square dance to live fiddle music. As one of the few spots in Los Angeles that can double as an Old West movie set, the Cowboy Palace has served as the backdrop to hundreds of music videos and films, from Keith Urban to Blake Shelton to a scene in “Terminator.”

But this storied institution could soon be another victim of the coronavirus pandemic. It closed down March 15, just an hour and a half after another one of its crowded dance classes. As a bar and live music venue, the Palace won’t be able to reopen until Phase 4, and it hasn’t brought in any revenue since March. But it’s still on the hook for rent, utilities, insurance, and other expenses.

“How long can I stay closed? I don’t know. How long am I willing to add all that debt to my balance sheet?” asked owner Chris Johnson. “It all depends on what happens what this bill [allowing tenants in the service industry to renegotiate their lease], what I’m able to raise, capital-wise what I’m able to borrow, and what I can negotiate with the landlord. But what really needs to happen is they need to get off their ass and let us reopen.”

On Monday, longtime Palace patron and dance teacher Bonnie Marcus and Palace publicist Jenn Ramirez started a GoFundMe page called “Save The Cowboy Palace Saloon” that has raised $11,330 from 166 donors as of Thursday afternoon.

“Many of the dancers have been coming here for that long or longer,” Marcus wrote on the site. “It's our home away from home. It's our way to dance our stresses away and do not know what we would do without it. Please help me save The Cowboy Palace Saloon!”

A Facebook post generated an outpouring of support. One Chatsworth resident said that he met his wife at the Saloon and played countless gigs there, while others reminisced about dance classes and film shoots.

What is currently the Palace was built in 1928, and opened as a fine dining restaurant and country western music venue in 1954, according to Johnson. A studio stuntman named Bill Ryan who owned a ranch in Chatsworth bought the building and renamed it Wild Bill’s in the late 60s, and later renamed it Ryan’s Roundup. In the late 70s or early 80s, it was renamed JR’s Cowboy Palace, and assumed its current name in about 1985. Johnson, a singer and guitar player who also owns a North Hollywood recording studio and a production storage warehouse, bought the club in 2015 after performing there for many years.

Until COVID, it was filled to capacity with a fascinating cross-section of Angelenos. “We have bands seven nights a week, but it has a built-in dance audience because we teach all the various couples dances: we teach the waltz, the cha-cha, swing dancing,” said Johnson. “We have the daytime drinkers, the after work guys, the pool league, we got cowboys, bikers, kids from college looking to hook up on the weekends, and we got seniors in there on Sundays.”

The Doo-Wah Riders are still playing this joint for over 30 years.