Cambridge Day is reporting that ManRay is eyeing the old Blockbuster space on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge's Central Square, which is just around the corner from its original home on Brookline Street. The article mentions that the new version of the club would be about a third of the size of the original, and that it would serve food as well as drinks.
ManRay first opened in 1985, bringing to the Central Square neighborhood an "underground" place that featured goth and new wave bands. It closed in the summer of 2005, with rumors floating around about its reopening ever since.
The address for the proposed new location of ManRay would be 541 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139. Their website is at http://www.manrayclub.com/
[December 10 update: A new article in Cambridge Day mentions that plans for ManRay to open at 541 Massachusetts Avenue are "on hold," and now it actually looks like a pet store could be moving into the former Blockbuster space. The article also says that ManRay owner Don Holland has "explored options with nearly every landlord in Central Square" over the past several years, with nothing coming out of it to this point. (Thanks to Eater Boston for bringing this to our attention.)]
[March 19, 2014 update: Cambridge Day now indicates that plans for ManRay to reopen could be on the verge of collapse, as the city is growing "impatient" after license extensions that have stretched over an eight-year period, and now Holland is hoping for one last six-month extension, with a move into the Metropolitan Moving & Storage building at Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street possibly being in the works. It appears that the License Commission may have been very close to taking away his restaurant and alcohol license yesterday, though a definitive decision might not be made until an upcoming hearing on March 27.]
[October 27, 2014 update: A new License Commission General Hearing page from the City of Cambridge indicates that after a continuation from March 27, 2014, June 11, 2014, and August 19, 2014, the day of reckoning may soon be coming for ManRay, as the note says that on November 12, the licensing authorities "may, after hearing or reasonable opportunity therefore, cancel any license issued under this chapter if the licensee ceases to conduct the licensed business."]
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