Eclipse Records, new venue Amsterdam Bar and Hall eying downtown St. Paul space

​Downtown St. Paul has always been somewhat of a dry zone for independent and local music -- save for the giant arena, the only real clubs catering to live music fans are the Artists' Quarter, Station 4, and Lowertown's Black Dog Cafe. But starting later this year, those venues will have some new neighbors that might very well help revitalize the downtown area, thanks to a plan by St. Paul's Director of Arts and Culture Joe Spencer that will help a record store, music venue, and poster shop find homes in the heart of the city.

The building will house some familiar faces: The record store is Eclipse, the vinyl shop and all ages concert space that closed last fall after a short run on University Ave., and the music venue will be run by Jarret Oulman, who also co-owns the 331 Club in Northeast and previously operated the 501 Club in downtown Minneapolis.

According to the Star Tribune, both of those businesses, in addition to a new gig-poster studio called Big Table, are expected to sign their leases in July and open later this summer.

For more on this cool development, check out Tom Horgen's full report for the Strib.