The Community Foundation of St. Clair County is breathing new life into an old Port Huron landmark as it makes the former Atrium Café & Ice Cream Parlour into an event space available to the public.
Located at 1519 Military St., the space is open for any kind of event for organizations, families or individuals, such as parties, graduations, or meetings for businesses or nonprofits, said Randy Maiers, the foundation’s president and CEO.
“We’re open to any ideas,” Maiers said in an email. “Holiday parties, small fund raising events for local nonprofits, work retreats, large family gatherings, etc. It seems as if around the holiday season our local restaurants are full all the time with parties and small events, so this would let them rent out the Atrium to use as they see fit, to handle their overflow events.”
The space boasts a main dining room with seating for 60 and an atrium with teal stadium seating for 24. It has an old-fashioned feel, with elaborate trims, large mirrors, stained glass windows, ornate metal- and glass-doors and wooden doors used as wall trims.
Thumb Coast Kitchen, which operates out of the former café, gives licensed chefs the opportunity to rent the kitchen for their small business. Those who book the event space could also book a Thumb Coast Kitchen chef or cater an event themselves using the kitchen or full-service bar.
To book the event space, visit stclairfoundation.org/the-atrium/. Rental fees are $250 per event, $150 for bartender service and $100 per day for food trucks to rent the parking lot.
Maiers said the community foundation uses all rental fees for the upkeep and operation of the former café.
Gino Giacumbo, general manager of the Blue Water Convention Center and president of the Rotary Club of Port Huron, said he held two rotary club meetings at the space and directed a Weight Watchers meeting to the space as overflow from the convention center.
He appreciated the ample parking, large space and unique character and atmosphere of the space. The former café is relatively cheap in cost compared to other event spaces in the city, and the foundation was easy to work with, he said.
Giacumbo said he would like to use the space as overflow from the convention center, or to bring outside groups who are in town for weeklong conventions to the space as a way to show them downtown and be somewhere different from the convention center.
Maiers said the main focus of the space remains on giving entrepreneurs a low-cost opportunity to start a business through the Thumb Coast Kitchen. The event space is an opportunity for the kitchen’s chefs to show off their talents to local organizations and give the kitchen exposure, especially as the holidays approach.
Daysha Woodley, manager and consultant for Thumb Coast Kitchen, said the kitchen currently has seven licensed chefs who use the space for pop-up carryout orders, catering and resale.
“It allows you the opportunity to make sure this is what you want to do, grow your business, get your clientele up and then move on to bigger and better things,” Woodley said.
To learn more about renting the kitchen as a licensed chef, visit stclairfoundation.org/thumb-coast-kitchens/ or call Woodley at (810) 300-7580.
For those who book the event space, the kitchen’s chefs offer convenience and fast service, as the chefs will be onsite to address any issues that might arise, she said.
Heather Fagan, who recently opened Doña Marina’s LLC in the kitchen, said she would be excited to cater for anyone who booked an event at the former café. She said she enjoys bartending and creating new drinks as well as cooking.
Fagan said she sees the event space as more opportunities to involve the community in her business. The event space might also create more things to do in downtown, especially in the winter months, she said.
“It’s a very big opportunity to get creative with events in the area,” she said.
The community foundation purchased the former café in March for $225,000, according to St. Clair County property records.
Thumb Coast Kitchen, which was first located at Grace Episcopal Church, expanded into the building when the foundation bought it. After nearly 11 years under the same ownership, Gayle Stevens put the café up for sale in 2020 due to the economic strain of the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of her late husband, Rock Stevens.
The building was purchased as part of the foundation’s broader efforts to support small local business, an initiative that come under new focus during the economic tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maiers said.
Maiers said the community foundation plans to keep the former café for about another year-and-a-half, after which they hope to sell it to a local entrepenuer who would like to open their own business and fill the space long-term.
Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or [email protected].