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Refurbishing THE GRAND ARLINGTON: Mike Perry Renovates a Classic Building to the Stature it Deserves
By Robert E. Martin Apart
from renovating the old Schuch Hotel in Saginaw's Old Town district,
Perry recently acquired the historic Arlington Hotel, located at
201 Linn St.
in Bay City's Westside Entertainment District. As
the owner of Old Town Furniture, this is Perry's first foray into the bar
& restaurant business, but he is undeterred by skeptics. "While I was half way
through renovating the Schuch from top to bottom, I was approached by the former
owners of the Arlington about purchasing it from them," relates Perry. "They saw
what I was doing with the Schuch and both buildings were constructed in the same
year and are 136 years old." "At
first I wasn't interested and when I mentioned it to friends, many thought I was
crazy," laughs Perry. "But after I walked through the Arlington, I discovered
what a beautiful place it truly is. Mainly, it needed to be rehabilitated and
promoted and being an investor, that's what I like to do - bring old buildings
back to their former stature."
"Amazingly, the construction at the
Arlington
is fantastic. Frankly, it's in much better shape than the Schuch," admits
Perry. "The Arlington has steam heat that effectively heats all four floors and
the basement is dry and clean enough to eat from. " After
a thorough scrubbing that involved hanging new drywall, laying new tile down,
installing new mirrors, and restoring a pair of big picture windows, Perry and
his crew scrubbed all the old oak in the Arlington and have installed a Big
Screen TV upstairs. They are also building a stage for bands to perform, have
rewired the facility, and are restoring a dance floor that could possibly be the
biggest in Bay County. "I
think the
Arlington
is like a sleeping giant," reflects Perry. "It's Grand Hotel and nobody was
coming into it because of neglect through the years. Ultimately, I'd like to see
it open as a full hotel with 34 hotel rooms, open at 7:00 AM, and have the bar
open at 7 AM. There used to be a huge kitchen in the back, so down the road
we'll look at maybe having a nice little coffee shop with a kitchen to service
customers." "We
should have eight hotel rooms ready by April 1st," continues Perry, "and once
everything is complete it will be beautiful. Everything in here - the bar, the
woodwork, the fireplace, the alcoves, is original from 1868. That's why I've
nicknamed it The Grand Arlington, because it is so beautiful."
Meanwhile, Perry has enlisted the aid of Mick Rivette to organize and
revamp entertainment at The Grand
Arlington.
"I've lived in 35 states, have a degree in music from GIT, and have been in this
business since I was 10 years old," explains Rivette. "My intention is work on
building a crowd and giving people a reason to come out and have fun, especially
when its cold outside."
Currently the Grand
Arlington
is showcasing Acoustic Music on Tuesday evenings. "It captures a
lot of the small town attributes about Bay City that are quaint and rural, so I
think acoustic night is an important thing to offer," notes Rivette. "Wednesday
is our "Originals' Night. We have such an amazing supply of original
bands in the tri-cities, so instead of playing at Jamestown Hall, we want to
give them a place to play. We have Feeding the Machine scheduled and are
working with other original bands in the area." "Thursday
will feature Country bands and will take a more interactive approach," he
continues. "We'll feature dance routines and have a line dance instructor that
will come in prior to the band performing in order to teach people new steps.
After working at Cruisers for five or six years, I learned that the key
component to success is making people feel they are more involved and a part of
the bar." "Friday
& Saturday nights will feature Live Dance bands. We have
Burnaround coming in as well as Sprout & the
Orange, The Robert Lee
Band, and
groups of that nature. We'll also start a 'Sexual Trivia' game which is kind of
like Jeopardy, and explore more interactive promotions with our
clientele." "On
Sundays we feature Polka Sunday, which showcases live Polka bands for
our Polish based crowd, which works very well given the heritage of Bay City,"
concludes Rivette. "Plus we still have Karaoke up front."
"Mainly, we want to give a little bit for everybody, offer everybody something
different, yet keep it consistent. If you come on any specific night you can
return the next week on that night and expect the same type of music. We do not
intend to mess with our weekly format."
Eventually Mick hopes to have a sound system installed so volume levels can be
equalized and is optimistic about the potential at the Grand
Arlington.
"Anything we can do to make the Club a better place, we intend to do it. A lot
of bands have been visiting me and if any bands wish to contact me they should
call me 989-450-5396."
"Being an investor, I'm very proud of the
Arlington,"
summarizes Perry. "To me it is 'grand' and it's also unbelievable what a lot of
hard work and tender loving care can achieve.
The Arlington was built 136 years ago and Mike Perry has restored much of the interior to its original splendor. |
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