CLEVELAND, Ohio — Historical significance. Limitless potential for commercial development. And, oh yeah, you also get a pirate ship.

Price tag: $2.5 million.

Yes, the historicPhantasy Entertainment Complex is for sale.

The circa-1915 building runs between 11794 to 11814 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood and spans more than 54,000 square feet, according to Rachele Glynias, who is handling the listing for Howard Hanna Real Estate.

The property comes with three liquor licenses, a couple of banquet halls, an arcade, two clubs and a large theater, says Glynias. This is a very big and very special property.

No doubt to music fans. The property includes the storied Phantasy Concert Club and the Phantasy Theatre – venues that played a significant role in Cleveland music history.

Nine Inch Nails debuted at the Phantasy. The Ramones, Iggy Pop, the Pogues, the Damned, the Psychedelic Furs, the Cramps, Motorhead and the B-52s all played there. The Phantasy was also fertile soil for Clevelands ascending 1970s and 1980s music scenes, says Mike Hudson, singer of the legendary punk band the Pagans.

Before the Phantasy, bands like ours were relegated to playing dive bars that people were afraid to walk into, says Hudson, via phone from Los Angeles.

The Pagans played with a number of Cleveland bands, including Pere Ubu. By the 1980s, the Phantasy complex became the nerve center for the new wave, punk, indie and metal scenes, hosting bands such as Wild Giraffes, Face Value, Lucky Pierre, the Adults, Shok Paris, Breaker and Destructor.

So many bands played shows and just practiced there, says Hudson. You cant downplay the significance of the Phantasy to the Cleveland music scene – and it all begins with the role of the DeFrasia family. John DeFrasia was a nice guy and was very open-minded and willing to let bands that others considered weird have a shot.

DeFrasia, who passed away in 2011, bought the complex in 1965. In 1968, he opened a restaurant called Piccadilly Square. He wanted to do something on a grand scale with the place. He was inspired to build a ship after seeing the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty.

The pirate ship remains docked in the club to this day.

I tracked down the blueprints from MGM Studios, he said in 2010 interview. We built it in the club, working night and day with shipbuilders for two-and-a-half months.

It required bending white-oak wood and metal using a steam furnace, not to mention 7,000 screws. In 1973, De Frasia sliced the ship in half when he decided to transform the restaurant into a music club. In 2009, the Phantasy Concert Club temporarily closed after a minor fire. Within a couple weeks, it was doing music again.

Keeping it as a music club is one of three directions for the property, says Glynias.

I could see business booming, if you developed the club side of it because it has three licenses and a lot of room, she adds. A developer also could buy it and put in housing, given the demand in Lakewood.

Glynias also imagines a third option: turning the complex into a mixed-use property that would include an arts and performance space component.

The stages are already here as well as the projectors and the theater, she says. Like I said, its a special property.

The building remains special to Michele DeFrasia, who has worked at the Phantasy for decades, going back to when she was a teen running around helping her dad.

Its meant a lot to our family and the day my dad passed remains a difficult day for us all, says Michele DeFrasia. Ill miss the Phantasy, but I think its time to go.

Not quite yet, however.

Michele DeFrasia continues to book shows and the associated clubs will remain in operation until there is a sale. For a concert schedule and more info, go tophantasyconcertclub.net.

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