The original lounge featured duos, trios, and acoustic acts. "Everybody wanted to get on stage, and everybody played the guitar," Steve said. Steve and Skip turned the performance area into a piano bar featuring Bob Green, who still plays in Fort Wayne.

The first stage of the original "Skip's Lounge" merely consisted of two pieces of plywood over a couple of booths.

When time came to expand, according to Steve, his father bought Christy's Coney Island next door, and expanded the bar by knocking a hole in the wall and building a stage to accomodate bigger bands and a dance floor.

Christy's famous coney island hot dogs are still available since the recipe was handed down to Skip. In addition to hot dogs, many other delicious items are available. Click here to go to the menu page.

In 1988, Steve brought to life his father's dream by removing the "shoebox" ceiling and knocking out the brick wall, which divided the original room in two to reveal a cathedral ceiling surrounded by a second-story balcony overlooking the performance area below.

As Steve and Skip began to reconstruct the second floor, they discovered a pleasant fact: much of what they were taking apart in the way of oak floor joists and other oak materials was in flawless condition. The construction crew used nearly every scrap of oak to build not only the second-story bar, but the railings for the horse-shoe-shaped balcony area and the tables as well.

The crew worked for thirty straight hours renovating the bar into something spectacular. The result of the careful craftsmanship, design and layout of the remodeled second floor means an intimate audio-visual experience for patrons of Skip's. It is designed so that any patron can see the stage from nearly anywhere in the club.

Beautiful stained glass has also been added directly above the dancefloor. A gameroom was added on the second floor which boasts archways in the brick architecture. Pool tables can be found in different areas of the club which adds to the "spread out" feeling.

From the beginning, Skip and Steve have always appreciated musical instruments and the history that is brought with each one. This is why they decided to decorate the bar with hundreds of them.

There are all kinds: acoustic, electric, lap-steel, banjos, ukulele, balalaika. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some are fit for playing and some are not, but one thing is for sure, they are everywhere!

Guitars aren't the only thing littering the walls of Skip's. There are bagpipes, trombones, zithers, violins, autoharps, trumpets, saxophones, conjas, bongos, and Duke Tumatoe's red converse high-tops behind the bar.