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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 15 > Entry
Buckhead Club shows off new digs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
To mark its 20th anniversary, the Buckhead Club is celebrating by giving itself a glamorous makeover. The elite private club, founded by Atlanta businessman Justus C. Martin Jr., (and now boasting 1,300 members) has moved from its original location at the Atlanta Financial Center to the 26th floor of the new Sovereign Building at 3344 Peachtree Road N.E.
On Saturday night, club members were given a sneak peek of the chic modern facility that officially opens today. The evening generated donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Ovarian Cancer Institute.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offer impressive views of not only the Midtown and downtown skylines but Stone Mountian and Kennesaw Mountain as well (when smog and humidity don’t interfere with the view, that is).
“The view was definitely a factor for us when choosing the new location,” Buckhead Club membership director Kellyann Dunning told Buzz during our advance tour.
One big difference with the new space? Members can now enjoy Lounge 26, a proper dedicated cocktail space with seductive Halogen lighting and sleek surfaces. Also new for the club: the Meridian Ballroom that will be utilized for business conferences, holiday parties and wedding receptions.
Buckhead Club executive chef Daniel Andre is still overseeing the club’s menu for its brand new Peachtree Dining Room. Wine enthusiasts can rent boxes for their favorite bottles in the club’s glass-and-wood wine room as well.
Guests who already have popped in for a visit include: Secretary of State Karen Handel; Fulton County Commissioner Rob Pitts; and Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell.
Arriving guests were greeted outside by a brand new public art installation titled “Foxes,” created by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. The seven romping golden foxes are clustered around the Sovereign’s front entrance.
Of the piece, the Decatur native writes: ” ‘Foxes’ marks one of the first large-scale sculpture pieces I have done from the 2006-‘08 workshop. Inspiration for the piece includes questions of permanence and ephemerality and memorabilia. In this case, small plastic toys, their mass-produced uniformity and challenging that, each of their individual markings.”
FRAM BACK IN THE ATL THIS WEEKEND
Leslie Fram may have left Atlanta for a big-time gig at a new rock station in New York, but you’ll be seeing plenty of her this weekend.
First, Fram will be at Smith’s Olde Bar Friday to host “Fram Jam,” an Americana showcase for the Atlantis Music Conference. She’ll then co-host the Georgia Music Hall of Fame ceremonies Saturday with Monica Pearson at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Fram, who ran 99X and co-hosted the morning show for more than 15 years, until the legendary station was taken off the FM airwaves in January, is now program director at New York’s 101.9/WRXP-FM, an intriguing blend of classic rock, alternative rock and new rock. It combines elements of Dave FM, the current Rock 100.5 and 99X, playing cuts by the Who, Van Halen, the Ramones, Depeche Mode, the Strokes, Nickelback and newers bands such as The Hold Steady and Kings of Leon.
“It’s freaking amazing,” Fram said, while Buzz visited the station’s modest West Village digs in a converted smooth jazz studio during her morning show with former MTV “120 Minutes” host and Athens native Matt Pinfield. “The city is really embracing this. We’re playing a lot of music this market hasn’t heard in a long time.”
She also gets to interview folks like Brian Johnson of AC/DC she would not have been able to at 99X.
Plus, she said there are three or four concerts a night she could go to. An inveterate workaholic, she already works 12 to 15 hours a day at the station, so she says she has to be more selective about what acts to see any given night. “Otherwise, I’d die!” she said.
But as Steve Craig, the former 99X midday guy who recently took over WRXP’s mid-days, noted, Fram is in heaven during this honeymoon period.
“This is like the early days of 99X,” he said. The station has only been on a few months, so it’s too soon to say if New York will embrace the Fram oeuvre the way Atlanta did during the 1990s.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Tommy Lee Jones (right) is 62. Movie director Oliver Stone is 62. Actor Josh Charles (“Sports Night”) is 37. Actress Amy Davidson (“8 Simple Rules”) is 29.
SICK BAY
Buckhead hair salon owner Richie Arpino is recovering from a double-hernia operation. The official word is that the charitable hairburner suffered the ailment after a rigorous kickboxing class. Late last week, Arpino was still crashed at home, accepting get-well wishes via his Facebook page. His updated status to friends: “I feel like I gave birth to triplets. From now on, it’s yoga!”
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