by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Thursday night Larry the Cable Guy packed the Arena with fans of his offbeat humor.
Across the street, thousands of Jacksonville Suns fans packed the Baseball Grounds for the first “Thirsty Thursday” of the year.
This time last year, there wasn’t anywhere near either venue for fans to go before or after their respective events. Instead, last night the Jacksonville Sports Bar gave comedy and baseball fans somewhere to have a beer and wings.
Originally built and owned by Mark Jackson and operated as Amsterdam Sky Cafe, the pub/restaurant is now managed by Kathy and Malcolm Marvin, who are no strangers to the restaurant business.
Kathy Marvin’s parents opened Le Chateau in Atlantic Beach at 7th Street on the ocean in 1959 (the restaurant is gone, but a condominium by the same name exists today). Malcolm Marvin’s first foray into the business came in 1977 when he ran an oceanfront bar in Jacksonville Beach called Tan Fanny’s. Thirteen years later, the Marvins built and opened First Street Grille in the Tan Fanny’s location and stayed open until January of 2006, when the property was sold to a developer. Three years earlier, the Marvins purchased The Homestead on Beach Boulevard. They owned and ran both First Street Grille and The Homestead for three years before selling The Homestead to Adventure Landing owner Hank Woodburn.
All the while, the Marvins held the mortgage on the Downtown restaurant and for nearly two-and-a-half years enjoyed being retired and away from kitchens and bars and the drama that can come with restaurant ownership.
What wasn’t going away, however, was the mortgage on the building.
“We bought the mortgage from a bank in Brunswick (Georgia) just as an investment,” explained Malcolm Marvin (Kathy was at the hospital with their daughter who was having a baby). “We thought we would pay it off in six months. Then, he (Jackson) went bankrupt and we couldn’t get in for a year-and-a-half.”
The Marvins then leased the building to Ralph Tiernan, who owns Fly’s Tie Irish Pub in Atlantic Beach, who opened Gas Knob Pub — a venture that lasted about eight months.
An empty space and a mortgage led the Marvins back into the business — but not on a full-time basis.
“We really had no desire to come back. We thought we were investing in a piece of real estate,” said Marvin. “We open up for special events to make the mortgage payments.”
Marvin says there are about 250 events in the Downtown area a year that he could consider opening for. However, he said anywhere from half to 180 is realistic. And, the Jacksonville Sports Bar is a long way from First Street Grille — a semi-casual dining experience that annually rated among the best in town — and light years from Le Chateau where black ties and dresses were the norm.
“Our main objective is to do private parties, to rent the space on the off days,” said Marvin, adding Crowley Maritime has rented the space one day next week and will bring 175 people in.
Marvin said he’ll open primarily Wednesday-Saturday during baseball season and for big shows at the Arena. They missed the Monster Truck Show by a week, but were open for the Elton John/Billy Joel show.
The menu is simple and nothing’s over $10 and Marvin will give you a beer if you show him your Suns ticket stub. If you rent the space, you can’t bring your own beer, wine or liquor in, but you can provide your own caterer.
The Marvins don’t want to stay in the business forever — they’ve been involved in some capacity for nearly four decades — but the Jacksonville Sports Pub is a viable option before or after a baseball game or show.
“We have only been open for seven events and the Suns season just started,” said Marvin. “We are learning.”
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