New Year's Eve is the last night Hailey's music venue as Dentonites have known it for more than a decade will exist.
Construction starts Jan. 1 on revamping the space into two new concepts. Owner Jennifer Gibbs previously announced a portion of the space to be converted into a sports bar and arcade, and Thursday revealed plans for the second bar: a speakeasy.
The bar and restaurant will be called 1933 Spirits and Small Plates, an ode to the year an amendment was added to the constitution to repeal Prohibition. It's expected to open in February.
The concept comes courtesy of Adam Arnold, a local bartender of more than 20 years who will be leading operations. He's previously tended bar at Sweetwater, Hickory Street Lounge and Dusty's Bar and Grill.
"When Jennifer took over Hailey's, and I walked into that backbar, it felt like a speakeasy to me -- it was small, at the back, had a great potential low-profile entrance," said Arnold via social media message. "There are no bars in town that are in the style of an 'end of Prohibition bar.' So I decided I wanted to bring Denton this experience."
True to the name, 1933 Spirits and Small Plates will focus heavily on classic and craft cocktails, but will also have a selection of beer, Gibbs said. The food menu will feature a "rotating selection of seasonal small plate offerings," according to a press release.
At 1,400 square feet, 1933 Spirits and Small Plates is the smaller of the two reimagined Hailey's spaces. Plans also include a 300-square-foot patio out front. Although it's deemed a speakeasy, there will not be hidden entrances. Some nights, such as special events, may require a password, Gibbs said.
A door will connect the speakeasy to the sports bar/arcade, which has yet to be named. Gibbs is running a social media contest to determine the name, which she hopes to choose soon. That bar is expected to open in the first quarter of 2016 with old school and modern arcade games alongside more interactive setups such as basketball hoop games, Gibbs told GuideLive in November. It will also serve food.
Both venues will be nonsmoking.
The decision to close Hailey's as a music venue came after several years of financial struggle. The venue opened in 2003 and Gibbs took over the place as its fifth owner in 2013. She owns the neighboring restaurant and bar Dusty's. Hip-hop act Fab Deuce will perform the last concert at Hailey's on New Year's Eve.
