From Pazzo’s Pizza Pub to UK party spot: Inside Lexington’s newest dance club
“The house is what you make it.” That’s the motto of Lexington’s hottest new nightclub, which boasts four bars and two stages across three floors along with a top-of-the-line lighting rig and more.
Clubhouse, 385 S. Limestone St, first opened on Oct. 15 and has captivated the campus community ever since. Owned by Ryan D. Foster, John B. Bruce, Cary J. Bruce and Mitchell Abel of BFB Holdings, the club occupies the former space held by Pazzo’s Pizza Pub and a Jimmy John’s less than 100 feet from the University of Kentucky campus.
The group, who has actually owned the building since May 2018, made the move to convert the space following its vacancy for over a year during the pandemic and after observing the success of fellow electronic dance music (EDM) club The Roxy, Clubhouse’s sister bar located downtown.
“That’s where we saw the real demand for EDM music,” said Foster. “After gaining momentum with The Roxy we decided to bring the concept closer to campus and the college community.”
Remodeling of the space commenced this past spring with the removal of the Jimmy John’s at the front of the building to install an indoor stage. There were also several mechanical and electrical upgrades to help power Clubhouse’s state of the art lighting system.
Clubhouse’s indoor stage, known as “The Pit,” is equipped with a massive LED board behind the stage along with 16 moving headlights, eight LED bars, two lasers, four carbon dioxide cannons and a fog machine. Each of these work in unison to create an intense visual experience to go with the hard-thumping bass common in EDM.
There’s also an outdoor stage dubbed “The Front Yard” along with a reservable two-story rooftop deck called “The Treehouse.” In total, Clubhouse has a combined capacity of nearly 1,000 people.
“We wanted a space where people could be entertained inside or out,” said Foster. “We also wanted to give students a place they could enjoy themselves at without having to drive or walk far to get there. The huge patio and proximity to campus made this location the perfect fit for expanding our vision.”
In addition to EDM, Clubhouse is also looking to bring in other forms of entertainment like comedy, rock n’ roll, pop, hip hop and country music, according to Jake Duby, Clubhouse’s talent buyer, event coordinator and a regular performer at the venue who last year got to play Lollapalooza in Chicago. He went on to say that their goal for the spring is to book at least 100 touring artists from a variety of musical genres.
“My perception growing up was always that EDM clubs could only work in massively populated cities, but while attending the University of South Carolina I realized that wasn’t the case at all,” said Duby. “Despite Columbia (South Carolina) being far smaller than Lexington it had a thriving EDM scene due to the college population there. I quickly noticed similarities in the two city’s demographics and knew we could make the same concept work here too.”
Soon music won’t be the only thing Clubhouse is serving up. A food concept has recently launched out of the club’s kitchen. The addition of food will come with expanded business days and hours and will include brunch on the weekends Foster said.
“We’re constantly polling our social media followers to get an idea of the entertainment, food and other things they want to see,” said Foster. “Our motto is ‘the house is what you make it,’ and we wouldn’t be here without their support, feedback and patronage.”
Clubhouse
Where: 385 S Limestone St.
Hours: 9 p.m.-2:30 a.m. Thursday-Saturday, closed Sunday-Wednesday
Online: ClubhouseLex.com
This story was originally published January 24, 2022 at 6:00 AM.