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Downtown鈥檚 beloved Railway Club will reopen with a new name and a new lease on life that points to the future while honouring its past, say the new owners of the iconic upstairs venue.听

Contrary to initial reports, live music and entertainment will still be on tap when the Railway Stage & Beer Caf茅 reopens this spring, but so will a 鈥減rogressive craft beer program.鈥� The renovated space will serve 32 craft beers with a rotating tap program and focus on attracting customers throughout the day rather than relying on nightclub business to pay the bills.

鈥淚t is a strange and awkward second-level space with nooks and crannies, a small city patio and a back room bar. That鈥檚 what we love about it and why we spent so much time there,鈥� Jeff Donnelly told the Courier via email. 鈥淚t鈥檚 calling to be brought back to life, we've hired a young design firm that puts the history of the space first.鈥� 听

The Railway Club got its start in 1932 as a members-only club for railway workers and became an iconic music venue in the 1980s and 鈥�90s hosting the likes of Radiohead, k.d. lang, Los Lobos, and the Tragically Hip. But over the years, the cozy upstairs hotspot had lost considerable steam, its identity and much of its loyal clientele.

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Earlier this year, Donnelly and his business partner, Chad Cole, took over the lease of the 84-year-old club, which had been closed since March and its former owners couldn鈥檛 find a buyer. 听

Donnelly and crew will also be calling on local musician and 鈥渋mpresario鈥� Thomas Anselmi to 鈥渄evelop the programming vision for The Railway Stage, including curatorial direction, d茅cor, stage design, lighting, and to keep the all-important feel which makes the room special.鈥�

Anselmi has a proven track record of invigorating historic venues, including the Waldorf Hotel and former porn theatre-turned-night club the Fox Cabaret. And his music cred goes further back as the former frontman of Copyright and Slow, which infamously ended its career at Expo 86 while performing at the fair鈥檚 Festival of Independent Recording Artists. Anselmi reportedly mooned the audience after organizers cut the show short and a mini-riot ensued.听

Donnelly said having Anselmi on board is a good fit for the club鈥檚 new vision.

鈥淎ndi Akhavan our head of programming and talent has worked with Thomas in the past at Arrival Agency.听Not only was he a cultural fit but he had a lot of passion for this particular project since we first started talking with him. He chose to work with us as much as we chose to work with him.鈥�

While exact details of the club鈥檚 live entertainment offerings are still being worked out, according to a press release Dino Archie鈥檚 popular comedy night and Joe Rotundo鈥檚 鈥淪aturday Sessions鈥� will return. No word yet on the crowd-favourite Hardrock Miners鈥� monthly Monday night singalong.

As for the club鈥檚 train set, which hung from the ceiling and wound its way around the venue, delighting many a drunken onlooker, there had been rumours online that the trains had been sold and the set permanently derailed. Not so, according to Donnelly.

鈥淭he trains have not been sold, the track hasn鈥檛 worked for some years and unfortunately a lot of the cars were stolen over the years. As a team we think the train should be represented somehow in the new space.鈥�

Still, this being Vancouver, news of the Railway Club鈥檚 resurrection wouldn鈥檛 be complete without a little online snarkiness and worries that the new venue will lose some of its soul. However, Donnelly takes it all in stride. 听

鈥淲e can鈥檛 pay too much attention to snarky comments, most people think we鈥檙e a faceless corporation of executives making decisions in boardrooms. That鈥檚 just not the case.听We鈥檙e a small independent company that started here in Vancouver,鈥� said Donnelly. 鈥淭revor Kallies, Alvin Pillay and David Gunawan partner on our products,听Evoke Design, St. Marie and others partner on our rooms, Andi Akhavan and now Thomas Anselmi partner on our entertainment, we have an incredible team culturally. It鈥檚 myself and my partners living/breathing these rooms every day. We always take people鈥檚 comments into consideration if they鈥檙e informed about our company, at The Railway, we're听going to put all our effort into our trade and let the product speak for itself.鈥�

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