Remember the Good Times at Graham Central Station?

The lights, the music, a smoky atmosphere and fun times are what fans of Graham Central Station remember.

Graham’s had something for everyone, a karaoke bar, a country bar, a Tejano bar, a hip hop bar and a ‘Coyote Ugly’ style bar known as Wildcats.

Even after it closed, nostalgia would still bubble as the building stood and events took place in the Plaza.

There was even a short attempt to revitalize the building when Rockin’ Rodeo moved in and started the cheap drink specials back up.

But now, nothing remains of Graham Central Station, not a single brick or frame of what once was stands. Instead, construction companies are working tirelessly to bring a Residence Inn to San Angelo.

Despite no longer being a visible building, Graham’s will live on fondly in the memories of those who enjoyed their time there.

People like RoAnna Murray, known as ‘Ro (like a boat),’ who worked at Graham’s for about three years, in every position from being the door girl to bartending.

“I enjoyed my time there when I was there” said Murray, “that place was like a one-of-a-kind place in San Angelo, with six clubs under one roof.”

Murray describes how popular Graham’s was during her stint working there, “When I first started there they were still pretty busy,” she said, “lines out into the parking lot every night they were open.”

Though it had started slowing down towards the end of her tenure, Murray mentions that Graham’s was a great place to work.

“It was a really fun place to work,” she said fondly, “I always had a good time, and every employee at Graham’s can agree the Christmas Parties were epic.”

Aside from the camaraderie, she was able to work many positions within the club, “I liked that I had the opportunity to move up among serving positions.”

No one at Graham’s worked the same club all the time, “They rotated us through every bar,” Murray said, “my favorite was the Karaoke.

“A couple bartenders did well in Tejano, they preferred to be in there, some liked country, everybody had their favorite bar to work in,” she explained.

Even after she was no longer working at Graham Central Station, Ro wasn’t a stranger to the place, “even after I quit, that was the place where I would go out on the town,” she said.

And though she was saddened by the closing of Graham’s, Murray has a couple theories as to why the place shutdown. “Towards the end of my time there it had significantly slowed down,” she explained, “there were newer places to go.”

She cites how the opening of new bars downtown affected the business of Graham’s, “You have that variety downtown,” she said, “more competition.”

But the building offered something that others don’t, she says, describing it as an ‘all-inclusive-type thing,’ and mentioning the dangers of late-night bar hopping and street crossing downtown.

Downtown, however, offers variety, and many of the buildings are better maintained than Graham’s was, partly due to the fact that the building pre-dated the city ordinance that banned smoking indoors, thus ensuring that it would always have that smoky smell.

“It was impossible to fully clean that place to where it would be brand new,” Murray said. “People still drink and throw up wherever.” And that on those fine old carpets. It’s likely that the clouds of smoke and the attraction of newer, shinier places might have been enough to draw some of the harsher critics away, even if they themselves had shared good times within Graham’s walls.

But what’s done is done. Graham Central Station has been closed for years, and now nothing remains of the building that some remember fondly.

“It was about the variety and the fun that we would have,” Murray said with a note of nostalgia, “that’s what made it fun.”

Now San Angelo can look forward to adding an extended stay hotel on the grounds of what used to be one of the city’s most popular venues for the nightlife.