Sleek private event space enlivens up downtown

Thursday, January 24, 2008
stltoday.com/St. Louis Post-Dispatch - by Kevin C. Johnson

Locust Avenue downtown takes yet another step toward total nightlife domination with the emergence of Lumen.

Brought to us by Buddy Coy and Pete Ferretti of Mandarin, Nectar, Pepper Lounge and Mist at the Lodge of the Four Seasons, in partnership with Pat Shannon of Mike Shannon's Steakhouse, Lumen is a high-end, contemporary, private-event space.

Lumen, which is Latin for light, can be "whatever you need it to be," Coy says. "That's what it was designed to be. You can adjust the space for whatever you want."

Lumen's official grand opening was Synergy's New Year's Eve party, although it had a soft opening with other events before that. Lumen also has been the site of Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation benefit, an Orlando Pace party, First Friday and SYGU events.

Alive magazine is having a bridal event at Lumen tonight. Coy figures that Lumen's biggest use will be for wedding receptions and banquets. It's also designed to accommodate corporate events and charity galas.

"One thing we did is we left the space as close to a natural state as possible to allow people to customize it," he says. "We left the palettes open for people to easily go on and do this."

Coy says there's a need for a space like Lumen, a space offering something more contemporary.

"This city is full of great spaces," he says. "But in our travels, we felt this was something the city lacked. We felt there was an opportunity for something more cutting edge and more sleek in design, with things including a built-in sound system."

The two-level space features very high ceilings, a mezzanine, one permanent bar with options for satellite bars, and lots of open space ready to be filled as necessary — or not. It has about 8,800 square feet of space, including a 2,000 square-foot mezzanine.

Coy and his partners consider the LED lighting used at Lumen to be among its key selling points. The lighting helps control the overall feel of the room, and what it can do and the color it provides is striking.

Lumen offers various pricing packages with food options that include fish, chicken and steak, and bar options that extend further than most event spaces. Lumen can create "action stations" to order, allowing a client to order up a Mexican station, for example, or panini, pasta or seafood stations, among other options.

"We're seeing more of that at weddings, where they're staying away from the traditional sit-down and wanting to do different things," Coy says.

The bar staff, well-versed in nightlife bartending, is able to make any number of signature drinks, or drinks that cater to a particular theme.

The first time Coy and his partners saw the space, which was previously an old Packard automobile dealership, they knew they'd found what they were looking for.

"It was laid out perfectly," he says.

The location, within walking distance of Coy and Ferretti's Nectar and Pepper Lounge, didn't hurt either.

"Everyone after a wedding reception is looking for something to do, and Pepper and Nectar can offer something for those people," Coy says.