Break out the club gear, there’s a new booty-shaking venue in town.
The Temple Club, 500 E. Grand River Ave. in Lansing, is set to open in late fall, and entertainment director Jerome White said the club aims to be a cut above Lansing-area entertainment.
“The club’s going to offer a distinguished atmosphere in an elegant setting,” White said. “At the same time, it’s going to be cutting edge and pretty hip compared to anything else Lansing’s ever had.”
White said he hopes the venue to become a stopping point for bands and disc jockeys that would normally skip over the Lansing area, and a haven for students, young professionals and the after-work crowd.
“We’re going to bring in regional and national acts as well as local and are coordinating with major radio stations to bring names that Lansing normally wouldn’t see.
“They would usually skip over us and go from Detroit to Chicago. Now there’s a point in the middle where they can stop.”
No one is booked for now, but White promises he’s working on it.
“Without a firm opening date, I can’t book anyone yet,” he said.
“We’re probably going to operate the first month without booking huge names and go from there.”
White said he’d pit The Temple Club against St. Andrews and Clutch Cargo’s, two Detroit-area clubs in hollowed out churches.
The club is for folks ages 21 and up, except for Thursdays and Saturdays.
“Everything is tentative right not, but Thursdays and Saturdays, electronic music nights, are scheduled for 18 and up, “ White said.
The Temple Club sits in a converted Baptist church, built in 1901. The 14,500 square feet of the brown-brick building includes two floors and a mezzanine, hardwood trimmings and 97 stained glass windows. Each floor is equipped with a bar.
“I’d like people to realize that historically, the building’s been kept in tact,” owner Diane Burns said.
Burns said unlike bars and clubs in the area, The Temple Club will offer memberships, thereby granting access to the VIP, third-floor mezzanine, where average club-goer platforms would be unable to tread.
For a $350 membership fee, a clubber could skip the line and receive free valet parking.
At a cool grand, a few extra perks set in, including access to the otherwise exclusive third floor.
“There’s prestige of having access to third level with the $1,000 membership,” she said. “It offers comfortable seating, free valet parking, appetizers, free coat check, top notch liquors, and bird’s-eye view of everything taking place in this facility.”
Memberships at $1,000 and upwards also carry discounts on wines-to-go, discount on banquet facilities and discounts on concert events.
Clint Cherney, a 2000 graduate, knows the bars of East Lansing and said he would prefer his old favorites.
“I like the convenience of bars, why would I go to Lansing?,” Cherney said. “I think Rick’s (American Cafe) is a good time, they’re all good bars. It’s a college town, so what do you expect?
“Even Troppo’s is a little out of line.
“You can walk to the bar from anywhere down to Hagadorn and then you can walk home drunk.”
When asked if he’d pay a membership to access the VIP floor, Cherney was adamant.
“No way,” he said “Have a great opening and a great closing.”
Johnny Leung, a 2000 graduate, said he’d venture to The Temple Club for good venues.
“That’d be cool if this were like St. Andrew’s,” he said. “That’s a different scene.
“If they had cool DJs, I’d go see the shows.”
Burns, a former restaurant owner, researched Clutch Cargo’s of Pontiac, The Lime Light of New York City and Chicago clubs in preparation for the opening of The Temple Club.
“It’s very common in Europe to take an old church and change it into a club structure,” she said. “It’s traditionally very successful.”
Cover will be $2-$20, depending on who is booked for the night. On-site and valet parking are available.
