New Bedford’s Notorious Big Dan’s Tavern Is For Sale

Perhaps New Bedford's most notorious crime took place on March 6, 1983, at a bar called Big Dan's Tavern. Twenty-one-year-old Cheryl Araujo was raped on a barroom pool table that Sunday night by four men after stopping to purchase a package of cigarettes.

The bar, located at 421-423 Bellville Avenue, was boarded up after the attack, and Big Dan's Tavern ceased to exist – or at least the name "Big Dan's" was removed from the building – but the structure remains still today.

For the last 20 years or so, the property that once was Big Dan's Tavern has been home to a storefront Christian church.

For a while, after the events of March 6, 1983, made international news, the former tavern housed a bakery thrift shop. The shop drew curiosity seekers from far and wide, and it wasn't cheap bread they were seeking.

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The building where Big Dan's Tavern once was became a tourist attraction, especially after the Jodie Foster film The Accused, loosely based on the events of March 6, 1983, was released.

Thirty-nine years after Big Dan's became a household name, the building is for sale. At 3,013 square feet, the property features the storefront on the lower level and a four-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment on the second floor.

Re/Max Vantage Agent Chris Medeiros tells me the property has been on the market for about three months.

"There has been interest in the property, and some of those who have toured it have mentioned they either remember when it was or have heard that it was Big Dan's," he said.

"The property definitely does have a bit of history to it," he said. That is an understatement.

If interested, you could have the former Big Dan's Tavern for a cool half-million.The property is available for $500,000 – but what would you do with it?