Former Medicine Hat Rattlers basketball player Clive Atkins has returned to the Gas City to serve as general manager of The Mezz and 1911 Lounge.--NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
lthomson@medicinehatnews.com
Clive Atkins, former Medicine Hat College Rattler, says the small-town charm drew him back to the city. He is the new general manager of The Mezz and 1911 Lounge.
Atkins came to Medicine Hat in 2005 from his hometown of Calgary with a scholarship to play for the MHC Rattlers basketball team. He took global tourism and majored in marketing. He loved the city immediately.
“It’s just the right size and I like the small-town feel,” he said. “I gravitated towards that; it was a big reason why I decided to come here. I wanted to move away from home, but still be close.”
When he moved here for college, he started working at the Scoreboard and learned how to bartend. He enjoyed it and ended up moving on to Earls and Tony Romas as well. When he was finished college, his position with Tony Roma’s prompted a move to Saskatoon, where he worked as general manager and then moved on to owning a bar.
Having previously sold all shares for his bar, Atkins wanted to make a move after so many places shut down during COVID.
“I wanted to make a fresh start and move,” said Atkins. “After I applied online, I looked up (The Mezz and 1911 Lounge) and just felt like I had to work there. It’s so beautiful – it looks like a big-city bar, but it’s in Medicine Hat.”
After meeting the owners and executive chef, Atkins felt it was a perfect fit and was happy to be coming back to Medicine Hat.
The Mezz bar and eatery and the 1911 Lounge are in the Beveridge Landmark Events building downtown, a fully renovated heritage building.
Atkins says when people come in, some remember when it was a furniture store and even worked there.
“There’s a lot of older pictures of the building when it was a furniture store and people almost burst into tears seeing themselves in these pictures,” Atkins said. “It’s absolutely incredible. Even people that don’t have that historical tie will like it; it’s new and fun.”
Atkins says the Mezz wasn’t open for long before COVID hit, so this is kind of a re-launching for the building and its amenities, though the 1911 Lounge won’t be open until later this fall.
“We have an amazing menu,” Atkins says of the Mezz’s cuisine. “A lot of people come just for the food. I’m not tooting my own horn on that one; I don’t cook any of the food,” Atkins laughed.
The restaurant and bar is locally owned and operated, which Atkins thinks is important.
“And the atmosphere here is second to none,” Atkins said. “We’re all having a good time; we’re not overly stuffy and we’re not an ultra lounge, but we still have all the same offerings. We just don’t take ourselves too seriously. We just want to have fun.”
Atkins says there are plans for live music nights in the future, as well as getting the DJ program going soon.
Since the reopening, Atkins has been amazed by support from the community, saying business is above what they projected.
“When people come in for the first time they’re quite surprised and amazed at it, and then we see them again two days later,” Atkins said. “Come try us out and we’ll do our best to impress.”
