Valentino’s, St. Paul, Minnesota

South St. Paul is trying to shed its ‘stockyards and meat-packing industry’ reputation and what better way to do it than by bringing in classy nightspots like Valentino’s, a European-style nightclub with accompanying lower level upscale Italian restaurant.

Valentino’s makes it home in a refurbished castle hotel, the original Stockyard Exchange Building, and attracts visitors from across the Twin Cities area. Historic on the outside, Valentino’s is definitely chic on the inside with a spacious series of rooms spread across two levels.

Valentino’s is Renaissance themed and features an upscale décor complete with dark wood, Renaissance-style furniture, ornamental European balcony railings, cracked walls, etched stained concrete floors and decorative ceiling. Candlelight and decorative chandelier lights in intimate corners make for an exclusive feel.

The refurbishment included knocking out a floor between the two levels to make an open bi-level central dance area. Lighting and sound system designer is Doug Suiter of Metro Sound and Lighting who incorporated a large amount of Martin gear in his design. He explains, “Originally we had planned an elaborate light show for the space, but because of the aesthetics of the club, the client went with a more scaled down lighting install.” Doug’s design accentuates the stylish details of the space while providing enough kick to power the central dance floor area.

The install was completed last fall and includes 15 Martin MiniMACs in the main room, both profile and wash versions. The MiniMACs project patterns onto the dance floor while adding texture and accentuating color to surrounding walls. A pair of Ego 04 flower effects and a pair of Atomic 3000 strobes also grace the dance floor rig.

Located on the upper level firing gobo designs down onto the dance floor are four Krypton 250 profile spots. A Jem ZR 24/7 Hazer provides the mid air projection canopy and all lights are run off a PC-based LightJockey with touchscreen.

Upstairs is a Martini Room, an exclusive lounge with a secondary DJ and lightshow featuring more MiniMACs, as well as an area with glass door and balcony that overlooks the dance floor for private parties. Audio comes courtesy of a high powered EV system.