Nearly 200 bidders gathered this morning as the Ann Arbor Bennigan’s restaurant -a 20-year fixture on South State Street - was auctioned off, piece-by-piece.

Nearly 200 bidders showed up Thursday morning as the contents of the former Bennigan's in Ann Arbor were sold at auction.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

The auction started inside with the memorabilia decorating the sports bar. Midway through, the auctioneers split the crowd into two groups: interior restaurant fixtures in part of the building and antiques across the room.

Eventually, the crowd moved to the parking lot, where booths, chairs, metal racks and other larger pieces were assembled.

Roger Yoder, a Bennigan’s employee, called the auction emotional. He’s worked for the owners, Mount Pleasant-based LaBelle Management, for 10 years - the last year of which was spent at the Ann Arbor Bennigan’s.

“It’s sad,” he said. “… Bennigan’s has been in this community for 20 years.”

The larger-than-expected audience included many of the restaurant’s former staff and customers.

“A lot of times, when a workplace closes, customers don’t get a chance to say goodbye,” said David Helmer, part of the Braun & Helmer auctioneering team leading the sale.

That wasn’t the case at Bennigan’s, which welcomed customers to its last day of business on Jan. 16.

Today, many of the people who’d dined there over the years, and admired the collection of memorabilia, got a chance to try to bid on it. Helmer called it a unique opportunity.

“Here, people could … get a piece of the history,” he said.

The auction was scheduled after the restaurant’s owners declined to renew the lease when the property owners raised the rental rate. The next tenant will be Red Robin, which hasn't released details on the opening.

Yoder was among the employees present as the restaurant closed on Jan. 16. And he joined many of them in helping to prepare its contents for the auction after it closed.

Though Yoder knew the building’s contents would be sold over the hours-long auction, watching buyers take possession of pieces of the restaurant was hard, he said.

But watching the prices - set item-by-item by the bidders - was eye-opening, he said.

“It’s amazing,” Yoder said. “A lot of people want a piece of Bennigan’s.”

The restaurant contained equipment that caught the attention of many area restaurateurs who joined the crowd.

Among them was Mike Kabat, co-owner of Haab’s in Ypsilanti. He said he attends the occasional restaurant auction to watch prices and sometimes buy. Today, he also wanted to check the condition of some of the small wares in the kitchen.

“I like to see what things are going for,” he said.

The deal of the day may have been the bar itself. The four-sided structure - the focal point for the restaurant’s interior - dominated the center of the room.

Bidding climbed to $750. And stopped.

With no response from auctioneer Brian Braun’s last calls, Larry Gilling became its owner.

What will he do with it?

“I don’t know,” said Gilling.

But it likely will end up for sale again after Gilling transports it to his family’s antique store, Roadside Attractions in Metamora, about 30 miles east of Flint.

First he needs to dismantle it - and remove it from the building on Friday.

That, he said, is why the bar sold for that price.

Even Gilling would have paid more - if he’d had to.

“I would have gone up to $1,500,” he said.

Gilling attended the auction with several family members, including son-in-law Mark Lundy. He took a break from the bidding action to take a load of purchases - including two old pinball machines, a copper and brass fire extinguisher and two old planers - to their vehicle.

The group drove about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the auction, knowing the contents of a Bennigan’s would have items that fit their stores, Lundy said.

“I knew Bennigan’s had good old signs and neat memorabilia,” Lundy said. “… They always decorate well.”

That reputation drew more bidders than typically come to a regular antique auction, Helmer said. Some were former customers. Others came from Indiana and Ohio, and absentee bidders were from three additional states.

“It’s a larger turnout that I thought there’d be,” he said.

The restaurant equipment was a draw, he said. But so was the memorabilia, like the old signs. About 25 percent were antique, while the rest were quality reproductions from years ago, he said.

The variety of items crossing the auction block kept the crowd’s attention. Several pairs of antique snowshoes fetched about $25. The fire extinguisher sold for $50. A pair of antlers sold for $75.

And a shirt signed by the 1999 University of Michigan men’s gymnastics team - the year they won the national championship - sold for $400. The buyer: Rich Boyce, director of restaurant operations for LaBelle Management.

The company’s owner told him to make sure he bought it.

“They got $400 for it,” Boyce said. “But it’s something the owner wanted.”

For more information Bennigan's, visit AnnArbor.com's restaurant guide.