By TIMOTHY J. GIBBONS, The Times-Union
The magazine rack at the back of Shantytown Pub holds an intriguing variety of magazines, covering music to fashion, with a bit of skateboarding thrown in for good measure.
In short, just the sort of things you'd expect a hip, urban crowd to be reading on a Monday night, say, when the pub holds Metal Monday and denizens can sip from a $3 quart of their favorite malt liquor.
Most nights, though, the magazine rack stands as mute testimony to that sense of hipness, with the pub too filled with drinkers and music to allow much reading to go on.
And most of the time, said co-owners Mari Anne Purcell and Ian Ranne, the patron trying out one of the 50 or so beers the pub offers might not even be a skateboarding fan: He might be a jazz fan in for a show or neighbor stopping by the place that blends into its Sixth Street location.
Of course, with only about 60 people fitting in the place - and that's after the Murphy-bed-like tables are folded up to the wall - it doesn't necessarily take a lot to pack the place: Musicians with a following can fill Shantytown with commuters from the Beaches or fans from downtown pretty much on their own.
The owners of Shantytown had been managers at London Bridge - a successful recent attempt to bring a nightspot to downtown Jacksonville - before buying what became Shantytown from the couple who owned the Bridge. The new pub has been open about nine months.
Shantytown had a history as a bar, Ranne said, although it had been shut down for a few years before they took over.
While perhaps not the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, co-owning his own bar puts Ranne exactly where he thinks he belongs.
"I've always worked in kitchens," Ranne said, "but once I started working behind a bar, that's all I wanted to do."
The reason? "Everyone who comes to a bar wants to be here," he said. "Everybody comes to a bar happy."
Shantytown then offers two things to keep those patrons happy: live music every Friday and Saturday and an expansive array of beers, including eight on tap and dozens in bottles.
"We're definitely shooting for connoisseurs," Ranne said.
They're also looking to become part of Springfield - sponsoring things like Dog Days in the Park - as well as the greater downtown scene.
"We take pride in having good relationships with a lot of bars in the area," Ranne said.
"That's because we borrow things from them," Purcell adds.
Those relationships might become more important as the two move on to the next stage in their burgeoning bar business: Already, they're looking at a spot in the LaVilla area.
"We needed more space," Ranne said, "from the very first day."
timothy.gibbons@jacksonville.com
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