McGillion plans relocation of Cameo Bar to Mattison Avenue
Bar owner no longer plans to sell YMCA building
Cameo Bar, a watering hole on Main Street that caters to the gay population, will move to a space in downtown Asbury Park.
Johnny Mac’s House of Spirit’s owner John McGillion confirmed his plan to relocate the bar to 722 Mattison Avenue, in the old Tabernacle of Glory church location.
McGillion closed purchase on the Tabernacle site for $275,000 in July, according to Monmouth County public records. The previously tax exempt site will now be added to the city’s list of ratable properties.
Both venues are nearly the same size, with the Tabernacle site “maybe a couple hundred feet bigger,” he said.
McGillion purchased the Cameo Bar in July and turned the decades-old bar into a gay-themed location. He believes the bar will “do better” near the Johnny Mac’s complex, a multi-story facility with a beer garden, mezzanine structure and new bar currently under construction and slated for full completion by July 2018.
Cameo Bar will operate under the Johnny Mac’s liquor license and the Cameo license will be freed up, McGillion said, but he is not sure what he is going to do with the Cameo license yet.
The cameos which have adorned the location since it opened over 50 years ago will make the move to the new location, said McGillion.
When the move will take place depends on McGillion acquiring the necessary building and plan approvals from the city, he said.
McGillion has also taken the YMCA building on Main Street off the market. Prior to listing the building as “for sale” with a $2.8 million price tag, McGillion envisioned turning the building into a gay-themed hotel with two dance halls, he previously told the Sun.
After speaking to one interested buyer, McGillion decided not to sell the location and may look to put residential housing units in the building, he said.
The first floor of the building, located at 600 Main St., is already leased to an elderly care facility that operates six days a week.
McGillion also owns Kim Marie’s on Kingsley Street in the waterfront zone where the former Adriatic restaurant once stood, as well as several bars in New York.
[Screen grab at top taken from Google Maps.]
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