Mak's Old City Hall Lounge has a full-service bar to serve guests plus a menu with organic meals to suit any appetite. World Photo by Madeline Steege

It’s all chandeliers, stained glass, mirrors — but no smoke — at Mak’s Old City Hall Lounge in downtown Coos Bay.

The old grand ballroom, that sports a 1920s’-style cloakroom, has been the catalyst for all kinds of music over the years, and since the end of July has provided hip-hop and Top 40 lovers, ages 21 and older, a place to dance the night away in a smoke-free environment.

“We’re really busy on weekends,” Jericho Clark, a bartender and husband of one of the owners, said, while sitting in the burgundy colored bar, with a plush carpet and gas fireplace. “There are usually 200 to 300 people here on the weekends.”

On a high shelf overlooking the bar is a picture of the person the dance club is named after — Mak Voljevica, a North Bend resident for almost two years, who met a tragic death in February at the age of 25.

From the pained look on Clark’s face, he obviously looked up to Voljevica.

“He was a young man from Croatia,” Clark said. “He was a real great friend of mine. He always wanted to open a bar.”

Clark said Voljevica worked for the Coquille Economic Development Corporation. According to Voljevica’s obituary, Clark’s friend served as a project manager for CEDCO. He graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, with a master’s degree in service management, before coming to the Bay Area to work for the tribe.

“Everybody loved him,” Clark said. “He loved it here.”

Mak is pronounced “Mac,” as in Big Mac, and the most popular food item offered on Mak’s menu is “The Bigger Mak,” according to Clark.

The club offers all organic food, including free-range steaks and chicken, plus salads, sandwiches, soups, appetizers and features Hawks View Vineyard wine, in Myrtle Point.

The old grand ballroom has an 180-degree view of downtown Coos Bay, and shares the end of the block with the Coos Bay Fire Department. But, that is not the only reason owners Melanie Clark, of Bandon, and Coos Bay residents Denise and Greg Rudolphs, chose the site for their nightclub.

“A friend of mine got married there about three years ago and I just always loved the layout of it,” Denise said. “I knew it had everything that we were looking for.”

The only changes needed were extending the bar, and Denise painted the interior of the ballroom, dining room and lounge herself.

Denise’s interest in running a bar came from holding dance events and learning how to manage a bar from her sister who ran a bar in California for 30 years. Denise’s husband worked in the bar industry for about 20 years.

“He had a huge dream to own a bar,” she said.

Melanie Clark also has food and beverage service experience from a job she had while working at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Jericho said he and Melanie fell in love with the historic building at 375 Central Ave., which was built in 1923.

“We were looking — we liked that it’s downtown,” Clark said.

“But, even more, we fell in love with it. When I came up here and looked at the grand ballroom, this was it.”

The ballroom features square-cut arched doorways, with a wooden dance floor that can accommodate up to 250 people.

“It is classy,” Clark said. “The entire motif — I loved it.”

Clark said he thinks they have been so successful because there is virtually no competition in the area.

“We’re the only hip-hop, Top-40 dance club,” he said.

The club employs about five security guards, with bartenders Clark and Rudolphs. A local disc jockey, “D.J. Les” Boateng plays the tunes.

The club offers Texas Hold ’Em poker tournaments every day except Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., plus Black Jack. Two pool tables also are available.

The bar is open 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day but Wednesday when Mak’s is closed. Dance music is offered on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9 or 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Dinners are available from 5 to 9 p.m. For more information, those interested can call 266-0526.

“We’re packed from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.,” Clark said.