BECKLEY — The closure of a Mabscott club hit some community members hard. But out of the figurative ashes of the Eagles Club flew Club Phoenix. The club resides in the same place as the former, but its owners say it has been “reborn.” 

Patrons can see this by walking in the door. Rick and Melissa Campbell, owners of Club Phoenix, said they remodeled the downstairs portion of the building, putting in a 900-square-foot dance floor. They installed lantern-like lights, reflecting off the many diamond-shaped mirrors lining the side of the newly repainted walls.

Not only do they offer dance contests and prize giveaways at midnight, but they also strive to give something back by having a free buffet every Friday, Rick said.

“We want to give something back to the customers because if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “We want to make it fun for them, and we’ve figured out that you can’t always take from people. You have to give something back. Can’t always be charging for things.”

Rick says their atmosphere is like no other.

“We have the largest dance floor in Beckley,” he said. “Also, we wanted to inject new blood in the Beckley market as far as bands go. This is why we reach out to different counties to get bands to perform. We don’t want people to hear the same thing every week no matter which place they go to.”

Before their official opening July 31, the Campbells said they wanted to reach out to the former Eagles members by giving them applications and free drinks for a period of time.

“This is part of the community, and a lot of the Eagles don’t know how it happened to them because the club was gone so fast,” Rick said.

Part of the community for over 40 years, the Eagles Club has been closed for two years. The Campbells said they admired how the Eagles had become an integral part of the Mabscott community. They wanted to revive the image the club once held in the community, but wanted to make it a little different.

“We want to cater to everyone from their late 20s up to the late 70s,” Rick said. “We please both sides because we’re open at 11 a.m. to catch the early morning people, but we are also open late and have bands performing every weekend for the younger crowd.”

The club will be private but is open to the public through Oct. 1. Dues will be $20 a year, but Melissa says they are not stressing their target age market or dues for first-time visitors.

“We won’t turn anyone away at the door,” she said. “We want people to come in and see the place and see if they will mesh with the people. Also, we’re not going to stress the age limit either because if some college students (over 21) want to come in, then we will let them. They need to realize that this isn’t a frat house though, and be responsible.”

Although downstairs is remodeled to their taste, the Campbells say there is still work to be done with the upstairs portion of the building. This part will be available for parties, receptions and family reunions when completed.

They also want to remodel the kitchen. Melissa says the club’s menu will be limited, however. She says people can expect everything from wings to burgers but don’t expect a fast food ordeal. Wanting to revamp the kitchen, Melissa said she wants to hire chefs for the club so they can do it right the first time.

“We don’t want people to just say ‘Oh that’s just a regular cheeseburger,” she said. “We want them to say, ‘That’s the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had.’ We want to put in the effort to where we are The Char of the night clubs.” 

The Campbells have also tossed up a few ideas of how to incorporate the community into their mission. One idea is possibly working with local culinary schools to have students complete internships by working with chefs.

“We have good ideas but we are going to implement them one step at a time,” Rick said. “We want people to enjoy this place and become a great part in the community like the Eagles Club used to be. That’s why we want to put in this kind of effort.”

— E-mail: alannom@register-herald.com