Kartouche?

[braeburn]

So what's the story on the dark blue building on Forsyth with the word "Kartouche" on the front? I tried googling it but no success. All I know is that it used to be a club.

Does anyone know the history of the building? What was the club like? Has it changed names ever and I might be mistaking it for something else that's been mentioned before? Does the building have any promise of being used ever again?

Looks like an interesting building; one of those "if these walls could talk" kind of places.

[Lucasjj]

I remember going to concerts there at the turn of the decade. They were a rock club then, but I can't remember the name of it. The last concert I saw there was Cursive, Poison the Well, and Thursday. It was a pretty good size place and had a U-shaped balcony overlooking the stage and dance floor that allowed you to get close to stage without being down in the chaos.

[Duke]

I think that club was once called the Paradome.  It did pretty well for quite a while and then slowly started to crumble.  I think it was about the time of the Super Bowl that it changed its name to Kartouche. 

[braeburn]

Do you think it will ever become a nightclub again? Something else? Or will it be yet another piece of history that gets demolished?...

[Shwaz]

I remember the Paradome / Milk bar / 618 days... lot's of good times there before Kartouche.

If I remember correctly, their downfall began after they became a hip-hop club and hosted the Cool Runnings shows. There were constant brawls and raids... they were eventually shut down right after someone got shot.

LucasJJ - I was at the Poison the Well show there... saw them at Freebird too. Are those guys still playing?

[David]

Paradome> Milkdome>618> DV8>Kartouche.  I stopped paying attention to the place after the 618 raver-riffic heydays.

I loved the old school hiphop they'd spend on the back patio back when it was 618. And we're talking old school for the early part of this decade, so 80's and early 90's hiphop mainly. 618 had such a cool urban backdrop around it, there were these old old windowless buildings across the way which had it's walls covered with vines and other vegetation, plus the modern skyscrapers in the distance.

Someone should do something with that place again, it would compliment the sinclair, 331 and the other places down Forsyth nicely. It's set up like a smaller version of Freebird on the inside so it'd make a great live music venue, at the very least.

[fsu813]

kartouche was a black, urban, hiphop club at the end.

[Lunican]

JTA had plans to demolish it for a bus stop.
Metro Jacksonville crashes the Downtown BRT Party

[Lucasjj]

LucasJJ - I was at the Poison the Well show there... saw them at Freebird too. Are those guys still playing?

According to Wikipedia they still are together. They just put out an album this last July. I was there to see Thursday mainly, but Poison the Well would have been promoting their last album before signing with Atlantic and "making it big". Thursday was playing their second album, Full Collapse, so this was all probably sometime during 2002.

[Omarvelous09]

good times at that place...it was a gay bar for about 2 weeks before it re-opened as kartouche.

[Sportmotor]

good times at that place...it was a gay bar for about 2 weeks before it re-opened as kartouche.

so what is it now?

[DavidWilliams]

What was the timeline when it was Paradome? Early nineties? Some friends and I went there around then. I recall that it looked like a dungeon but had a decent vibe to it. Interestingly enough, I work (and have for the last 11 years) near there and have watched it from a distance go from different club to different club to nothing again. I it is a cool location. Hopefully, somebody can make something happen with it. My guess is that there are some code compliance issues that are gonna be pretty costly.

[DavidWilliams]

kartouche was a black, urban, hiphop club at the end.

Was the place down Jefferson (it would have been around Super Bowl I think) a hip-hop club as well? They renovated what I think was a 40's-50's era service station. I think it was called for a short stint (not making this up) Jaguar Ugly. Now, the building appears to be renovated again to house some form of professional office space.

[Coolyfett]

It was the Paradome from 94 to 98 They changed the name to Club 618 my senior year in H.S. It was Club 618 from 98- til like 2004. I always remember it as a hip hop club. 92.7 the Beat would always broadcast from there live while I was in H.S. I am not sure who Stephan Dare is talking about, I remember the club being ran by this Very fat black guy that drove a Hummer....can't remember his name though. Levi!! His name was Levi, I always thought he owned the building. Whats up with the big yellow building next to it?? i don't remember anything ever being there. It has to huge bay doors in the front facing forsyth...Its right next to Kartouche, west of it. It boarders Forsyth and Jefferson.

[Coolyfett]

Was the place down Jefferson (it would have been around Super Bowl I think) a hip-hop club as well? They renovated what I think was a 40's-50's era service station. I think it was called for a short stint (not making this up) Jaguar Ugly. Now, the building appears to be renovated again to house some form of professional office space

Not the same building....Lake could tell you more about that place you are talking about it has been featured on the downtown updates a few times.