SUP, City Council: All Goes According to Plan, Trees Will Reopen August 14

Yet again, Clint Barlow went down to City Hall all dressed up, only to find out that, well, it wasn't really necessary. That's because it took "all of three minutes" for the Dallas City Council to approve the specific use permit for Trees, which the Dallas Plan Commission unanimously OK'd one month ago.

And just how long will we have to wait till the re-opening of the venerable Deep Ellum venue that died in Dallas bankruptcy court in December 2005? All goes according to schedule, Barlow says, the joint'll reopen on August 14.

"I'll know better in the next week or so," he tells Unfair Park. "I have some tentative bands lined up, some local stuff, for the opening, but a lot of bands have come out of the woodwork who've broken up who want to play the club, so it's pretty cool."

He says construction will begin immediately -- as in, this very moment, as scaffolding's being set into place to crews can begin tearing out the ceiling tomorrow. (He says a dumpster should be out front right .. about ... now.) But there's still significant remodeling to do, not to mention the installation of the sound system, all of which Barlow and his wife Whitney and one other partner are paying for all by their lonesomes.

"It's costly," he says. "We're putting everything we've got into it. We're going broke, or we're gonna do kick-ass, one of the two." He laughs. "It's always easy for everybody to talk about it, but till you try ..." He pauses, then laughs again. "And that's where are. We'll see how it goes."