And the Story Begins...
The building was built in 1937 by the Cangelosi family who owned
it until The Chimes bought it a few years ago. The original
building housed a pharmacy (our current seating area), a movie
theatre (with the entrance where the chimes entrance and main bar
are located), and a clothing store (bar seating and the relocated
varsity entrance). No, there was not a basement in the
original plans. We dug it recently with the new
additions. The kitchen and back storage areas were added
later and served time as a book store, clothing store, record
store, hair salon, surveying equipment shop, etc.
The drugstore closed and was converted to The Chimes in
1983. The current owners bought it in early 1986. At
the time, it was a restaurant doing mostly bar business with live
music 2 - 3 nights a week. This is one of the multiple
personalities that The Chimes moved over to the Varsity Theatre
after it was renovated in 1991.
The Chimes underwent renovation and expansion completed in July
of 1997.
Here are a few bits of information worth noting:
The stone floors in The Varsity entrance were salvaged from The
Village Restaurant - a Baton Rouge landmark until recently across
from Cortana Mall.
The Wine Cellar flooring was salvaged from Gator's Shuck and
Jive - yes, someone really named a business such - where Buffalo
Wild Wings exists today.
The bar floor and the front doors are old pine salvaged from
this building. The header beams in the brick wall openings
where cut from a beam that supported the roof over the old clothing
store.
The nice old doors to the Wine Cellar and Varsity entrance are
from homes in New Orleans.
The 'Finest Scotch' stained glass came from a pub in
Scotland. It is about 130 years old.
Those black and white photos are band shots taken on our stage,
where they are now displayed.
The miniature liquor bottles displayed in the bar area were
collected by the well traveled parents of Tim's friend, Paul
Rosenthal.
The ceramic dog's name is Nipper and has been stolen and
successfully recovered 2 times.
