The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Variety

Media Credit: JULIA NORMAN Chapel opened recently on College Avenue. The bar, located in a space occupied by a bank, incorporates design elements such as the old bank's vault door and a Sistine Chapel-inspired painted glass ceiling.

Influences from the Sistine Chapel are not what you would usually expect in downtown Athens, but at the new bar Chapel it's exactly what you'll get.

Chapel, located on College Avenue next to Walker's Pub, opened just over two weeks ago. With plentiful seating and bars on both floors, Chapel has the potential to be a happening place in Athens.

General manager Zach Arydurocher moved to Athens on a whim six months ago after managing a restaurant for 10 years.

After being involved with conception and construction, Arydurocher was asked to be manager because of his managing credentials.

"We've got everything from the finest wine list in town to probably the most extensive Scotch selection in town," Arydurocher said. "You can get anything here from a $20 glass of cognac to a 40oz Old English Malt Liquor complete with a paper bag."

As Outkast boomed over the speakers, a packed row of stools at the downstairs bar casually conversed while snowboarding videos played on the numerous flat-panel televisions throughout the bar.

"We don't usually have any games on the televisions unless it's game day or some other big game," said owner Bill Hamby as he sipped on a specialty martini. "We try to put things on the televisions like snowboarding and skate videos, just things people wouldn't see everywhere else."

Chapel's building used to be a bank. The women's bathroom has the vault door from the bank on its hinges.

The upstairs vault will soon be a sitting area complete with a glass-top counter made from the vault door.

The original skylight window was taken down and the glass was transformed into light fixtures that now adorn most of Chapel, giving it a medieval castle feeling. The skylight is now filled with a beautiful mural of flowing colors painted by local artist Rob Peterson, who came to Athens after graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design.

"I did about a week's worth of drawings after looking at pictures of the Sistine chapel," Peterson said. "Then I just layed out the glass and free-handed the mural."

Chapel opens at 5 p.m. every Monday through Saturday nights for happy hour and lasts until 9 p.m. They plan to open earlier in the afternoon as spring approaches.

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