JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — For more than a decade Freebird Live in Jax Beach has given bands a stage and crowds a place to listen.
Thursday afternoon the venue's Facebook page posted a message saying Freebird Live is in the process of being sold.
Freebird Live is planning to close its doors for good after 16 years. Managers had no comment regarding the sale of the popular music venue.
A potential buyer of Freebird Live includes a major name in the surfing industry that is looking to give the establishment a facelift.
Pictures of what Freebird live could soon look like and its new name "Surfer the Bar" based on Surfer Magazine.
It would be a concept between the publication and the Salt Life Restaurant Group.
Pictures sent to Action News Jax by Surfer Magazine show renderings of what is possibly in store for Jax Beach.
Jax Beach city planning commission voted (8-0) Monday, to move the project to the next phase.
A sale hasn't been completed and Freebird Live will still have all currently scheduled shows as planned.
Action News Jax spoke with Jacksonville Beach City Councilman Phillip Vogelsang who is glad to see some change.
“[It will be] something new and fresh in the Pavilion area,” Vogelsang said.
Vogelsang said he’s sorry to see the area lose a larger venue for national acts, but did say there are several other sites in the area that have live musical entertainment.
If the sale goes through, surfer the bar would be the first one in the continental U.S.
This isn't the first attempt to bring Surfer the Bar to Jacksonville Beach.
City Council shot down plans one year ago to build that where the bar Mangos currently resides.
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