When Morristown’s newest nightclub, the Iron Bar, opens its heavy iron doors to the public–possibly in September–patrons will find a fun experience inside and South Street businesses will find a good neighbor outside, the partners vow.
“We want people to say, ‘They run a tight ship over there,'” said Darrell Remlinger, who learned the ropes at the former Jimmy’s Haunt.
There has been friction between some downtown bars and business owners, who have complained about dirty sidewalks after young crowds blow through the clubs on weekends.
If the Iron Bar gets any such complaints, “We’ll go outside and clean it up,” said Darrell, citing the reputation of Jimmy’s Haunt as a solid citizen.
Please click icon below for captions.
Darrell, 35, started as a doorman at Jimmy’s Haunt and worked his way up to manager before owner Jimmy Cavanaugh sold the nightclub to TD Bank about five years ago. Darrell also managed the former Palm Bar in Morris Township.
Jimmy was sufficiently impressed to bring Darrell aboard as a partner at the Iron Bar.
“Darrell had an interest, he’s motivated, and he’s from the younger generation,” said Jimmy, who bought the property for the Iron Bar from owners of the Foot Locker chain in 2008.
Foot Locker had replaced a Woolworth’s store that occupied the South Street location since 1950, according to Jimmy. Before Woolworth’s, it was an apartment building, he said. A cornerstone indicates the structure dates to 1885.
The Iron Bar partners plan to operate bars on the ground floor and in the expanded basement. A yoga studio is interested in leasing space on the 3,200-square-foot second floor and a yogurt shop will rent a storefront adjacent to the bar, Jimmy said.
Expect an “industrial feel,” with metal and brick and earthy wood tones inside the Iron Bar, said Mark Axelrod, who is helping the partners. It won’t be a sports bar, but there will be large screen TVs. Live music won’t be on tap; deejays are more likely The menu will be designed for sharing, with small tapas.
“It’s not a dinner house, like Roots, and it’s not strictly bar food, like Sona Thirteen,” said Jimmy, citing two nearby establishments. The Iron Bar will target an upscale, casual crowd ranging from 21 to 40, he said.
The partners have done extensive renovations, installing an elevator and replacing a brick wall in the basement with steel support beams to open up the room. A 110-foot rectangular bar is planned for the 6,800-square-foot downstairs, which Jimmy hopes to open in October, after the 3,600-square-foot street-level portion starts operating.
Timing is everything, and Jimmy acknowledged things looked dicey when the economy tanked after he closed the deal with the Foot Locker people.
Only one retailer inquired about leasing the space. An Irish father-son team had plans for a sports bar in 2009, but the pair moved to a smaller space in Hoboken, Jimmy said. In recent months, they have seen a flurry of interest from yogurt companies and yoga shops, Mark Axelrod said.
Jimmy retains his liquor license from Jimmy’s Haunt. The Chester resident invested in that nightspot around 1980, and saw it evolve from the Wedgewood Inn to Society Hill, Argyle’s, Phoebe’s and finally, Jimmy’s Haunt.
According to legend, the place was haunted; a prominent Morristown couple and their servant, Phoebe, were murdered there by a ne’er-do-well Frenchman in 1833.
No such stories are attached to the Iron Bar. Nor is Jimmy haunted by fears of a saturated nightclub market, despite at least a half-dozen bars within a beer-cap’s throw of his site.
“There’s enough for everybody,” he said. “We’ll just bring more people into the town. It’s becoming a mini-Manhattan.”
