Lights back on for a brighter Nightown (PHOTOS)

After pulling the plug three months ago, Nightown is coming back to life on Saturday night as a new and improved Vegas-inspired dance club and rock’n’roll bar.

“It was time, the room was due,” said manager James “JJ” Johnson.

Nightown locked its doors in February with an uncertain future. Managing partner Bob Bonezzi told The Log in March that he did not consider the club closed, though they were deciding which direction to take the “grand old lady.”

The night club’s glory days stretch out over three decades of hosted big names such as BB King, Three Dog Night, DJ Skribble and more.

This year, the club will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a new look that steers away from the urban atmosphere it had before.

Veterans of the Destin landmark will be glad to know the layout of the club has not changed, but it has two distinctive new themes.

Manager Dave Williams and George Golematis, general manager of The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island, brainstormed together on new concepts for the club.

“They kind of put their heads together and came up with a new look,” said Johnson, who has been at Nightown for 22 years of its existence.

The smaller bar in the building that once housed a lumber yard is a rock’n’roll and billiards retreat. The sprawl has a bricked-in look and will play rock music. Johnson said “The Other Bar” would be an ideal escape from the vigor of the main club.

The dance club is still a wide-open, two-story party haven. The air has been brightened up by a new décor bathed in white, with color-changing LED lighting in the chandeliers, pillars and overhead lights above the bars.

The club will be more illuminated, a feature that Johnson sees as a perk.

“I wanted to make it more female friendly,” Johnson said. “When they sit at the bar, they don’t have to be in the dark.”

The club will also keep the eyes entertained with video shows throughout both bars on 32 inch panels and DJ Doc Roc will return to spin a mix of top 40, rap and R&B.

The layout is sprinkled with white high-top stools and matching tables, with loads of VIP space on reserve. A posse can lounge on the clustered orange leather couches or have a private party in one of the VIP rooms hidden by fiber optic curtains.
Johnson said Nightown was an 18 and up establishment before, but they have raised the age to 21 and up to change the clientele a bit.

“We hope to attract more young professionals,” he said.

Need some Nightown?
The club reopens to the public on Saturday, May 16 at 9 p.m. Nightown will donate 50 percent of proceeds from cover charges on opening night to the Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast. Visit www.nightown.com or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.