by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Another piece of the Bay Street Town Center puzzle is falling into place. The latest new business to take a chance on downtown’s future is Eclat Jazz Club on East Bay Street.
The two-story club directly across the street from the Duval County Courthouse promises to be downtown’s first upscale music and entertainment club and may prove to be the catalyst for other bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Frank Arceneaux, a project manager for The Auchter Company — who along with architect Rink Reynolds Diamond Fisher Wilson is handling the project — said the 5,800 square-foot club has been in the works for a while.
“The project has been sitting for a few months,” said Arceneaux. “We are working on the designs and drawings right now. The developer is ready to go, and in a month we should be permitted. The owner is ready to start construction.”
Vince O’Rourke, who lives in Berkman Plaza, owns the club. While the proximity to home will be convenient for O’Rourke, Arceneaux said Berkman and other downtown developments were actually the impetus for the jazz club. He cited Vestcor’s 11 E. Forsyth and the Adam’s Mark Hotel as two major sources of potential clientele.
According to renderings on a sign outside the building, the club will be very art deco with purple and black as its main colors with soft lighting helping create a mellow atmosphere. If all goes as planned, the club could be open by late winter or early spring.
“There will be major renovations, which will take about four months,” said Arceneaux, adding a February or March opening would be ideal. “That’s the plan.”
Once open, the jazz club will join Ed’s Spanish-American Restaurant as the only after-hours eating, drinking and entertainment venues at the east end of Bay Street. However, unlike like Ed’s, which offers a full menu for lunch and dinner, the jazz club will be more music oriented.
“It will not be a full-blown restaurant,” said Arceneaux. “It will be more of a jazz club with musical entertainment.”
Organizers with Bay Street Town Center plan to eventually line East Bay Street from Ocean Street to Berkman Plaza with an eclectic mix of restaurants and clubs offering everything from small galleries to bars to coffee houses.