Dixie Dance Hall owner speaks on decision to close venue

Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Dixie Dance Hall owner speaks on decision to close venue 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

The last of the original clubs in the Crockett Street Entertainment District has closed due to what management calls a generational aversion to nightlife.

Danny Molina, operator of the Dixie Dance Hall, said the last 17 years and 4 months in Downtown Beaumont “have been a great ride,” but it has been getting harder to draw a crowd each weekend.

“It's been slow for awhile now, you know,” Molina said. “We’ve loved it here and have had a great time, but you’re ultimately in business to make money.”

The Dixie was the first of 10 venues to begin operating in the Crockett Street Entertainment District, a complex of five historic buildings that were renovated and opened to business in 2002. It was named for the Dixie Hotel, a brothel run in the same location by Rita Ainsworth before the James Commission targeted vice in Beaumont and Port Arthur in 1961.

The club was a popular spot with college kids and music fans when the club secured big names like Travis Tritt and Tracy Lawrence.

Molina said his target audience has always been a younger crowd, but the next generation of bar-hoppers hasn’t seemed interested.

“They are more laid back, they stay at home and order food or beer,” Molina said. “That group is hard to get into clubs.

Doug Lyons, development manager at Crockett Street, said the closing of the club leaves only the Neches Room as the last venue still operating in the entertainment district.

“Things are in motion to secure some more leases, but nothing we can divulge right now,” Lyons said.

The Neches Room hosts events such as weddings and receptions at least four times a month, he said, and Crockett Street will host a car show in October.

While the entertainment and dining sector of Downtown Beaumont has taken some hits in the almost 20 years since Crockett Street opened, Lyons said there are now more people than ever working downtown.

“That’s why we hope to secure some deals that will help facilitate those people,” Lyons said.

Crockett Street also has had a number of changes in the last 17 years, including six of its venues closing in 2008 when proprietor Jeff McCarson decided not to renew his lease. Molina, a former Port Arthur disc jockey, took over and reopened the Dixie Dance Hall along with three other bars - The Hub, McGee's Sports Bar, and Drink.

Crockett Street is only a small part of Downtown Beaumont, just a connecting lane between Pearl Street and Main Street, but the events there and its venues have been a visible sign of interest in downtown.

Bill Allen, president and CEO of the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, said new businesses looking at Beaumont still ask to take a ride downtown, and it could still be an economic driver for the city.

“I think in order for the city to grow, we need to develop downtown further than we have,” Allen said. “I believe there are plenty of privately owned properties that could be redeveloped to start that process.”

But the key, Allen said, will be to have a balance of both residential and commercial investments that feed off of each other and grow.

“We have talked about the need for some kind of development - the chamber, the city and some of the development folks - and everyone seems more than willing to participate where they can,” Allen said. “It's just a matter of finding a starting point for all of our teams to get together.”

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

Twitter.com/jdickjournalism