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Music school, restaurant to share rebuilt Doko Park building

Staff //December 6, 2019//

Music school, restaurant to share rebuilt Doko Park building

Staff //December 6, 2019//

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A building near Doko Park in Blythewood that was originally planned to house a restaurant will now become home to both a restaurant and a music school.

Don and Sara Ann Russo, owners of Freeway Music School, purchased the building from the town of Blythewood and had Hill Construction Co. divide it into two distinct spaces. One side will house Freeway Music School’s new location and the other will be the site of Doko Station Pub & Eatery.

A renovated Blythewood building will house both a restaurant and a music school. (Rendering/Provided)The Russos said they wanted to own their own building, but they didn’t need the entire structure. So they reached out to John and Kelly Clinger, who own Lexington’s Old Mill Brewpub, to see if they would be interested in operating a Blythewood restaurant.

Because the Old Mill Brewpub is near Freeway Music’s Lexington location, the Russos and the Clingers had worked together on events. The Clingers agreed to the proposal, which required a bit of work.

“When we first started, it was just a shell of a building,” said Ray Hill of Hill Construction Co. “The exterior looked complete, but the interior was just bare framing.”

That provided the Russos a chance to design their space to their specifications. The music school will have 14 custom rooms for private lessons, band rehearsal space and a recording studio.

Sara Ann Russo said the space is sleek and modern, with “cool little touches” intended to inspire creativity.

“I’m really pumped that we can go in and lay out these rooms to be the best possible experience for the students and the teachers,” she said. “We really want it to be a place where people want to hang around, and a place that’s inspiring.”

Hill said the restaurant side was designed to reflect the character of an original train depot which was torn down.

“The character is more wood,” he said. “It’s got a little bar area (and a) dark ceiling, so more of the traditional, rustic feel of the train station.”

The restaurant also includes exterior seating.

The Russos said the two businesses under one roof allows for cross-promotion: parents waiting for their kids to complete their lessons can pass the time eating or drinking locally roasted coffee or craft beers, while students from the school can provide entertainment at the restaurant.

“We didn’t want to make it just a music school,” Don said. “We wanted to have some kind of element like food, and coffee, and drinks, and entertainment.”

The original plan was to have a restaurant in the building when it was owned by the town, so Blythewood officials were pleased that the space includes an eatery, Sara Ann Russo said.

“It was important for us and to them that there be several elements of offerings for the town, so they (patrons) would have a place to eat, a place to hang out that’s cool,” she said. “We’ve got a great relationship with Blythewood. We’ve been doing performances and the Christmas parade, and a lot of our students live there anyway, so it was kind of the perfect match.”

The Clingers are also happy with the dual-business result.

“This has been a dream of ours for several years, and it has finally come to fruition,” said John Clinger.

Hill Construction expects the building to be completed by mid-December. The Russos anticipate the music school will open in January, and the restaurant is slated to open in February.

Freeway Music School has locations in Lexington, Irmo, Northeast Columbia, downtown Columbia and in Sims Music in St. Andrews.

This article first appeared in the Dec. 2 print edition of the Columbia Regional Business Report.

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