A New Steampunk Speakeasy In Town With A Lot Of Local History

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A Steampunk speakeasy with its interior Victorian era subculture's decor has opened in one of St. Petersburg's most historic buildings, the Detroit Hotel.

When you walk inside Club 201, located at 201 Central Avenue, you feel as if you have time-warped back to the 1800s with a 21st-century twist.

Owner Susan Aversa told Patch that when she thought about the design for the business, she wanted to bring it back to its original time. The Detroit Hotel was St. Petersburg's first hotel, built in 1888 by St. Petersburg co-founders Peter Demens and John Williams.

"I started getting into the historical aspects in the design and the rejuvenation of it," Aversa said.

Historic black and white photos of when the building was built and its growth timeline are on display inside Aversa's speakeasy. Another of the many historical pieces inside the building is a 1911 Flying Merkle motorcycle that hangs above the bar area.

The Flying Merkle at Club 201 is one of four left in the world, Aversa said.

A Zeppelin, otherwise known as a Steampunk Blimp, designed by local sculptor Salvador Saint Germain hangs from the ceiling above the area in the speakeasy that resembles a Victorian living room. The piece is called "The Flying Phoenix."

"Our design is period relevant," said Aversa. "The Steampunk philosophy is that of the Victorian era and what they saw—their vision of science fiction and what the future would be so that's what I'm representing here, this is the futuristic vision of the Victorian era."

Aversa wants to maintain the integrity of the building and its history.

She said the biggest challenge was working with the city to convince them that she would maintain its historic integrity. There are also certain historic things that the city didn't want her to keep like the pecky cypress wood in the ceiling, but she was able to save the wood.

"I had to fight to keep that (the wood), and they wanted me to put a drop ceiling in," Aversa said. "We went above and beyond, and this gentleman right here, Benedict Truhouff helped make that happen."

Truhouff is the head bartender who spent a week of work on the ceiling to keep it intact. He is also a certified mixologist who has helped created Victorian-era-themed drinks at Club 201 such as the zeppelin, edison light lemonade and flying merkel mule.

When they started the construction, they uncovered two historic windows.

"In 1914, when this portion of the building was built, it was sealed like a time capsule," Aversa said. "We chipped away through 5 inches of stucco to get to that original brick, and then we uncovered those historic windows."

The windows face toward 2nd Street North.

Aversa said if you look at any of the historic photos of the portion of the building, you won't see windows because former owners/leasers never knew they existed.

Detroit Liquors occupied the space before moving literally right around the corner.

Club 201 has a food menu to satisfy late-night hunger or to finish a girls' day out with something light on the stomach such as salad skewers that include grape tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumber slices, iceberg lettuce and white cheddar chunks served with toasted crostini and a dressing of your choice.

Or try their popular naan-Cuban that is like Cuban-style pizza on an open-face Cuban with grilled garlic naan topped with garlic mayo, pork, ham, salami and Monterey Jack cheese topped with homemade pickled red onions, yellow mustard and thin pickle slices. The menu also includes salmon recipes, appetizers and a bit of Louisiana flavor with its bayou bread that has crawfish tail.

Staff is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines such as wearing masks and social distancing. Customers must wear masks when entering the building and follow the CDC guidelines.

Club 201 is open from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., Monday through Friday; Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. for brunch, and 4 p.m. to midnight for dinner and drinks.

For more information about Club 201, visit their Facebook page.