Plans to overhaul 32-year-old gay bar and restaurant Blake’s On The Park Tuesday were presented to Midtown’s Development Review Committee (DRC).
Robert Ross of Ross Design, Inc. is leading the public effort on behalf of Blake’s, outlining the proposal—which calls for a “selective demo and partial rebuild” of the popular Piedmont Park-adjacent club—with officials.
Highlights include a new exterior wood deck and pergola out back at the southeast corner of the site, as shown in the above drawing.
The upstairs area just off the deck would be demoed and refurbished with a focus on relocating the bar and adding restrooms and new attic storage.
Existing pedestrian access points along 10th Street and from the rear parking area will remain as is.
“Since the project is located adjacent to the residential district, the DRC recommended that the applicant make a presentation to the Midtown Neighbors’ Association’s (MNA) Land Use Committee,” Midtown Alliance, the organization behind the DRC, wrote in its recap of the presentation Thursday.
“Overall, the committee was supportive of the proposed design; but made the applicant aware of patio noise concerns raised by neighbors.”
Blake’s is expected to present to MNA’s Land Use Committee on January 21 before submitting plans to the city.
[Editor’s note: this article was updated Jan. 16 with comments from the DRC.]
Bring more bar noise into the outdoors, those townhouses next door are gonna love that!
They should have thought about that before building/buying townhouses next to a bar that has been there for decades.
i thought Blake’s was in bankupty court?