'It's an entertainment thing'
Central Station features an array of options
By CAMDEN EASTERLING
The Daily Inter Lake
Whether it's sports, live music or open-microphone nights, the new owner
of Coaches Corner in Whitefish says his business plan for the space boils
down to one simple idea.
"It's an entertainment thing," Jim Flanagan says of his plans for the
building, renamed Flanagan's Central Station.
Talk around town has it the business is being revamped as a blues club,
which he suspects stems from his previous work in Los Angeles as an events
planner for the House of Blues, a chain of restaurants and concert venues,
Flanagan says. He plans to bring some blues groups to Whitefish, but Central
Station will be home to an array of entertainment options, he says. He
intends to use the top floor of the building for live music, pool leagues, a
bar and a restaurant.
Flanagan, 31, bought the business in November 2004 from Julio Delgado, a
longtime Whitefish coach and educator. The building, which Flanagan does not
own, is located at the corner of Central Avenue and First Street and has
about 10,000 square feet spread between two floors. The space previously
housed a sports bar and restaurant downstairs and a night club on the top
floor.
Flanagan opened the club two weeks before New Year's Eve, following a
remodel of the building that included refinishing the bar and raising the
existing stage to accommodate live music. The raised stage also stores
several pool tables during concerts. Flanagan has weekly pool leagues going
already.
Currently he is using only the upper floor. Flanagan expects to open a
kitchen there in the next few weeks. In honor of his hometown and his
maternal ancestry, the kitchen will serve Chicago-style deep dish pizza and
Italian roast beef sandwiches. Flanagan isn't sure what he'll do with the
downstairs, but a future use might be a restaurant that would be affordable
for families.
The new owner moved to Whitefish after a short stint in marketing and
sales for a small Great Falls radio station. It was while on a business trip
for that job that Flanagan first discovered Whitefish and Coaches Corner.
After work one night, he stopped by the club to see a comedy show. He ended
up sitting next to and talking with Delgado, and Flanagan picked up the
owner's business card.
"Like any salesman, I was trying to get cards," he says. "It's not
because I knew it was for sale."
Flanagan later noticed in a real estate guide the business was for sale.
"And then the producer in me kicked in," he says.
Flanagan has been involved with concert productions since he was a
teenager majoring in radio management at Columbia College in Chicago. While
working in the radio business in college, he connected with Jam Productions,
a national company that produces concerts. He learned the ins and outs of
concert production and events planning through his work with that company
and by working occasionally with the House of Blues chain in Chicago. He
eventually moved to California to work in radio sales and production.
That venture connected him with people who worked for the Los Angeles
House of Blues, and he got back into events and concert production. That job
showed him the celebrity scene there was quite different from Chicago. In
his hometown, local TV news anchors were considered celebrities. But stars
such as Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro were commonplace at the Los Angeles
House of Blues.
"For a Midwestern kid," he says, "it was a pretty big, crazy time."
And that time took a toll on him. He was burned out after three years in
California, Flanagan says.. He wanted to get back into radio production and
found the station in Great Falls. That station went out of business within a
year of Flanagan's arrival. But he was determined to stay in Montana because
he'd grown to love the state.
When he saw the Coaches Corner ad, he knew he could turn the space into a
premier entertainment venue that would provide him with "something to call
my own," he says. He now has a staff of about 16 people that will help him
accomplish his goals.
Flanagan will rely on his production skills, and music business contacts,
to bring in bands and performers. Those acts will run the gamut from blues
to reggae. Flanagan hopes a variety of music genres will mean that the club
offers something for everyone and that people of all ages will feel
comfortable coming to Central Station.
Many of the acts will play two nights. The owner says that approach
results in two benefits for patrons: They can choose either Friday or
Saturday night to go see a show. And booking bands for two nights typically
means lower ticket prices. Admission for most shows will be $7 to $10.
Flanagan will host local bands and will also hold open mic night. Before
the night life hours roll around, Central Station will function as a sports
bar with events shown on the three high definition TVs mounted above the
bar.
"I'm nothing if not eclectic," Flanagan says.
He also hopes the club will earn a reputation as classy venue that offers
quality customer service and entertainment options for everyone.
"I'm not here to lose my liquor license," Flanagan says. "My policy is I
card at the door for any ticketed shows or on any major nights."
Central Station will be tough on its 21 and up policy for certain shows,
but the venue will offer some family-friendly events as well, Flanagan says.
For more information, call Flanagan's Central Station at 862-8888 or
visit www.mtcentralstation.com
Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at