New bar serves up

Chilly fun

Melody Parra / The Prospector A cold front is expected to hit El Paso’s club scene this Friday with the opening of ICE, a video-music bar located next to Club 101, 3233 N. Mesa. Business partners Joe Dorgan and Alfrank Catucci have collaborated to design the only bar in El Paso to have a 37-foot long, 4-inch deep and 24-inch wide bar partially made of ice. “Ever since we moved to this new location from Downtown, it’s always been mine and my partner’s idea to expand Club 101 and do something a little different,” Dorgan said. “We really wanted a place that would compliment Club 101.” Dorgan also wanted to offer a venue for people to start or end their evenings. “When concerts or a special event is going on, some people might want a place to hang out before or after the event and ICE would be a good place to go,” Dorgan said. Local artist Pete Aybar painted  snow-capped mountains and ice-blue flakes on the walls to add to the cool ambiance. Plasma screens, playing a variety of music videos. are spread throughout the bar. Clubgoers can enjoy a drink on a stool at the frosted bar, on a plush couch or outside on the patio. “The overall process has taken us about eight to nine months,” Catucci said. “Building the ice bar has been interesting because there is only one company in the entire country that makes ice bars and it’s so expensive for what you get–so we had to go and reinvent the wheel, basically.” Catucci worked with T & S Construction, based in St. Lucie, Fla., to develop the concept of the frozen bar at a significant reduction in cost.

[Read More]