Casino-ish in Wharfside Village

Brian Conley returns to take the helm at the new Parrot Club

by Bob Tis

While some things on the St. John business scene change so fast you need a scorecard to keep up, others stay eccentrically constant. Southland Gaming, the company behind the spiffy new casino-style establishment at Wharfside Village has tapped a very familiar face to front their new concern.

"I think Southland's approach was to get somebody who knows the locals, who knows the island," explained Brian Conley, the general manager of the new Parrot Club. "I am very excited about this."

Conley first washed ashore in Cruz Bay in 1979 and immediately found employment just up the road at Gallows Point.

"It's fabulous to be back," Conley noted. "I guess it was my turn to figure out where I was supposed to be."

"I was 22 then, and Gallows only had seven cottages, two of which listed quite a bit," Conley remembered. In the years since, the affable Irishman's own history has dovetailed with the back-story of St. John itself. Conley was there when the infamous Backyard Bar opened in 1980. I also recall him working at the Lime Inn in those formative years before the hurricanes came. Conley's sagacity for business showed early when he opened the island's first film processing center and later when he purchased the lease of the former Bad Art Bar and opened the Quiet Mon Pub. He also helped with the opening of St. John fine dining institutions like Paradiso and Asolare among a myriad of other projects. He is still widely credited with single-handedly rekindling and popularizing the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Family matters took Conley up to Memphis four or five years ago, but the businessman -who looks remarkably like the character Big on "Sex and the City" - realized he had to get back to the islands. This past week we caught up with him standing behind the polished bar at the Parrot Club, in the hours before the club was scheduled to make its long awaited soft opening. The scene at the club was, to say the least, frenetic. Workmen had just installed 55 flashing and blinking Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), and a line of shiny young women with platinum hair and makeup were waiting to fill out applications for employment. Conley had just gone to his apartment for a fresh shirt and came back with a flat tire. He clearly had a thousand items on his worry list, but as soon as he stepped behind the polished bar, his smile caught him by surprise and he found the moment.

"I think this is where I belong," Conley told the Sun Times.

In addition to its near frigid air conditioning, the club boasts many high-end appointments, including flat screen televisions, plush carpeting and a mirror along the back wall that mystically stretches out the size of the room. In fact, the former home of Larry's Landing Pour-Your-Own Bar seems like an actual casino. There has even been talk that the Parrot Club may install video terminals for playing blackjack and even roulette, but for now, Southland officials explained, it is just the VLTs.

"Some people love it, and some people don't," observed Conley. "But this is going to be a very upscale entertainment center, and I think it is enhancing the entire complex."

While current Virgin Island territorial law only allows for two actual casinos and only on St. Croix, VLTs have become par for the course in Cruz Bay and are in near constant use at Fred's, Larry's Landing, Cap's Place and even the laundromat. Conley immediately acknowledged that this club, which centers exclusively around gambling, will be a little bit different for St. John, but he stood firmly behind Southland's vision.

"Some people love it, and some people don't," observed Conley. "But this is going to be a very upscale entertainment center, and I think it is enhancing the entire complex."

The Parrot Club will open their doors each morning at 11 a.m. and gaming will go until midnight. Patrons will find a well-stocked bar. Appetizers will be available from the Waterfront Bistro, which is just outside the front door and Conley, who looks a little like he hit the jackpot himself, will be ensconced behind the bar.

"It's fabulous to be back," Conley noted. "I guess it was my turn to figure out where I was supposed to be."

[Editor's note: The Sun Times doesn't endorse video gaming, but we do like to stay on top of what's new in town. It is in this spirit that we bring you this article. The Parrot Club opened in early August.]

Date - August 2008