MACON, Ga. — If you're looking to jazz up your evening with some sweet tunes and tones, look no further. The Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a new jazz lounge at their meeting Monday.
While some people may see a closed down car repair shop on Martin Luther King Boulevard, Cedric Penson sees a jazz club. The place will be called 'Pressure on MLK.'
Penson plans to have food, live contemporary music and other entertainment options at the lounge. There's a dance floor and even an event room.
David Aaron was downtown Monday night. He thinks it's a great idea.
"It's really good seeing new people down here, new venues opening up, new places to go. It's really good," Aaron said.
According to the application, Penson wants to show people downtown Macon is a vibrant place. Anthony Howard plans to open his own lounge in May, just two blocks over. He's glad to see another business owner coming to the area.
"Always excited about new businesses, especially in our market, because we try to create something that people don't have to bypass downtown and go up to Atlanta, so I'm excited about what's to come," Howard said.
Caleb Osborn has lived downtown for years. He says it's great to see it expanding.
"It used to be that downtown, it was Cherry Street. It used to be a couple blocks on Cherry Street and that was it," he remembered. "Over the past few years, downtown's basically grown and expanded, and there's a lot of variety."
Penson's timeline for finishing the project is pretty ambitious. He plans to open Pressure in mid- to-late summer.
Also on the Planning and Zoning agenda Monday were entertainment venues on Sheraton Drive and Vineville Avenue.