Workers removing portions of the facade of the Burt’s Theater building downtown Tuesday morning uncovered signage that promoted one of the building’s famous former tenants: the Country Palace.
The Country Palace was the second bar and live music venue Toledo businessman Duane Abbajay operated in the building, his first being the Peppermint Club. However, it was the first venture that helped inspire a hit country music song.
According to A Bar In Toledo: The Untold Story of a Mafia Front Man and a Grammy-Winning Song , written by Dominic Vaiana and Mr. Abbajay’s daughter, Stephanie Abbajay, the elder Abbajay opened the Country Palace in the 1970s…