Hey, times are tough…
For months midtown nightclub the Lava Room has been wrestling with its future.
“Want to be a bar owner!?!” a sign atop the building front on Broadway has read. “25% / 50% / 100% of 3 a.m. Business OR 100% of business + building – inquire within”
As I reported late last year the club was closed for a spell.
“I was only closed for not paying sales tax,” says Lava Room owner Jimmy LeBlanc. “From like a Tuesday until the following or the next Friday. I missed Halloween, that was the bad one.”
The reason for the sign?
“Cause I’m selling it,” LeBlanc says. “I’ve had that up since August and I’ve had a lot of nibbles, but nobody has any money. Everybody has money at 2:30 in the morning but…”
LeBlanc gave the joint a “facelift” and reopened the 100 person capacity upstairs in March.
The idea being to “bring in revenue with a club that starts at midnight,” LeBlanc says. “So what we’re trying to do is get an older crowd in early with old Motown, old rock ‘n’ roll and do the dance stuff starting about 11 p.m. or 12 a.m., cause that’s when all the kids were showing up anyway.”
The latest: the DJ-fueled upstairs is now rented and up and running and the club is adding DJ action to the downstairs mix starting.
craig glazer
Fun place for years, Jimmy is a great guy and fun to be around,I wish him all the best
Midtowner
The reason that place is so fucked is 100% Jimmy’s fault. He had what could have been a solid little dance club with what he did upstairs, instead he ran it into the ground and didn’t maintain it. Last year the roof developed a leak and for months there was this gaping hole in the ceiling, it was ridiculous. I bet the whole upstairs is infested with mold. Whoever looks at buying that place better get a really good inspection done. The Lava Room is still fun as far as midtown dive bars go, but given what I hear he is asking for the place no wonder no one has bit yet.
Plus he seems to really enjoy hitting the slopes all year round if you get my drift. Maybe that is why you guys get along Craig.
smartman
Cocaine makes you feel like a new man. Problem is the new man wants to do some too.