It’s 9 p.m. Wednesday, and for a certain group of Flagstaff20-somethings, that means Ladies Eighties night at the GreenRoom.
As 1980s music from the likes of the Talking Heads and Princeblares out across the dance floor, Sunfeather Tohe and Dillon Knostsit tucked away in the corner of the stage playing Pacman on aNintendo that’s as old as they are. Their game is broadcast on aprojection screen for the hundreds of people dancing and drinking25-cent drinks to watch.
Across downtown Flagstaff, groups ranging in age from 21 (andoccasionally younger) to far past retirement are enjoyingthemselves in their own special watering holes with their ownfavorite liquid refreshments.
Twenty years ago, there could have been a bar for the students,the music lovers and the general working class, but they would havebeen spread across town with little crossover patronage.
Now, thanks to a downtown cleanup tied to the construction ofHeritage Square and the creation of a historic district,Flagstaff’s core has an influx of new bars and businesses.
The effect has been a benefit not only to the community ofdrinkers, socializers and fans of local culture; it has also been abenefit to the plethora of businesses that now huddle around theHeritage Square.
It’s an area that’s existed as long as the city, but it has onlyrecently morphed into a home for the eclectic mix that thismountain town has to offer.
Many may think of downtown after dark as a place for collegestudents or miscreants. But those who frequent the area know thatafter the shops and galleries close, the area is home to a livelymix of live music, book clubs, dance parties, documentary filmshowings, wine tastings, local microbrews and streetperformances.
A DEFINING TERM
“Ladies Eighties is something of a defining term for us, butreally it’s only four hours out of a week,” said Rand Jenkins, whoowns and operates the Green Room on North Agassiz Street.
Jenkins said that when he and his partners opened the GreenRoom, their vision was to create a musical venue and a communitycenter where people could host events.
Now that vision is almost complete.
In the last month, the Green Room has hosted a benefit for hempfarming, a science lecture series open to the public, a series ofdocumentary shorts on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and helped put onFlagstaff’s Hullabaloo. In total, they have now hosted more than200 fundraisers.
That’s in addition to the monthly electronic dance party calledElectric Kingdom and numerous local and touring bands.
Jenkins says they cater to college kids on Wednesday nights, butmost other nights of the week are geared toward different segmentsof the population.
“Hopefully, we serve everyone from 21 to 81,” Jenkins said. “Thenumber one thing people want when they go into a bar is a safeenvironment.”
He thinks that Flagstaff is lucky to have so many bars in onearea. Rather than seeing his neighbors as competition, he sees themas a benefit.
The Green Room, for example, might have a concert to which noone shows up, but the Orpheum has a packed house. Those peoplemight wander to his bar after the show and ease the blow.
“Downtown is successful when everybody is busy,” Jenkinssaid.
WINE BARS GROWING
When Weston Miller graduated from NAU several years ago, he andhis wife decided that they wanted to stay in Flagstaff. They wereboth wine lovers, so opening a wine shop that was a naturalfit.
Last year, they moved Vino Loco out of their original home inthe Old Town Shops, bought a license to also serve wine and openeda much larger shop across the street.
Despite a number of other wine shops and bars opening in town,Miller said things have grown to the point that they’ve had to hiremore staff and business is still growing.
Art Walk is still the busiest night of the month for them, butMiller said they manage to pull in patrons with their wine club andby having frequent tastings.
They also host a $10 wine and cheese night, where New Frontiersbrings the cheese and they pair it with different wines fortasting.
Miller says the same thing as other downtown bar owners: Theymay have a particular group of people who frequents their bar, butthey have regulars that range in age from college students topeople in their 70s.
Miller says the Wine Loft is their major competition, but thatthe two wine bars offer a different selection and many of theirpatrons also frequently go to the other bar.
“(Wine bars) were definitely lacking in Flagstaff for so long,”said Jenkins. “I do think that the Flagstaff population, as itgrows, the demand for upscale venues will grow. People want to feellike they’re in a big city.”
BILLIARDS AND BOOKS
James Jay agrees that his neighbors are a benefit.
Jay owns Uptown Billiards on Beaver Street, and he rememberswhat things were like before Flagstaff had a safe downtownscene.
When Jay came to NAU as a graduate student in English more thantwo decades ago, he found a job as a bouncer at Uptown Billiards tohelp pay the bills. The bar was on South Milton Road at the time,and after getting his masters of fine arts out of state, heeventually bought the bar and moved it downtown.
He says the entertainment district wasn’t as centralized beforeHeritage Square and the bars were spread across town.
He says his bar is mostly locals and working class, but he getsa great range of ages and backgrounds because of the musicians whoplay and the book club that they host.
He says there are now many downtown events he wouldn’tnecessarily attend, but still loves just knowing they’rehappening.
“They do their own things in their daily lives, but then theycome together here,” Jay said. “They’re willing to create their ownculture.”
The downtown he remembers from his days as an NAU student was amuch rougher place.
“You could drink a six-pack in the alley and not have to bediscreet about it,” Jay said. “(Today), you could still do that,but you’d have to be a lot more discreet about it.”
Eric Betz can be reached at or556-2250.