WATERLOO - Jim Lawrence was back home with his family Friday - the Black's department store family.

They know the past is gone, but they saw the future, and liked it.

What they saw were plans by Cedar Falls restaurateur Darin Beck to locate one of his Bourbon Street restaurants and Voodoo Lounge establishments on the first floor of their one-time place of business, the landmark downtown 94-year-old Black's Building, now owned by Nelson Properties and managed by Donna Nelson.

The building's eighth-floor Sky Room, formerly known as the Tea Room, will reopen for private parties.

Lawrence, one of the last managers of The James Black Co. before serving as president of the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce from 1985-97, held a realistic but optimistic prognosis for the grand old building's future.

"I think this is fabulous," now-retired Lawrence said, surrounded by former Black's employees. "Black's was an entirely different atmosphere. This wasn't a department store. It was a community. The Sky Room, Saturday night smorgasbord, it was a great thing."

Lawrence said of the current proposal, "It's going to be a totally different thing, but it's going to be, I think, a very viable thing for downtown.

"There isn't going to be a Black's department store downtown. That just isn't going to happen," Lawrence said. "But there's going to be activity in the building. I think it's going to be very positive activity. It's just a change. Hey, if you don't change, you die."

Beck said the building's past won't be lost in its future.

"We will totally respect this building and its place in Waterloo history," he said.

Paul Reuter, the Black's Building's maintenance man from 1956 to 1985, said he did have some concerns the metro area in general may become oversaturated with night spots and entertainment venues.

"I do hope it'll go," he said. "I'd like to see activity down here. I think it'll probably be a younger type of a crowd."

Owners of other downtown establishments said the project will create additional traffic, not necessarily competition.

"It's going to bring more people downtown. It's a very positive thing," said former City Council member Buck Clark, operator of Jameson's Public House. "Three times since I walked through the door, people said, 'Oh, it's competition.' And it's not competition.

"Car dealers figured out a long time ago the more dealerships you get in a certain area the more people will come to that area to buy cars. And it's the same thing with the hospitality business," Clark said. "The more restaurants and bars and gathering establishments, the more people come. So we're excited."

With the mix of existing and coming attractions downtown, "this is fabulous stuff. And it's what we've been working for a long time," Clark said. "We need to recognize that we can do things in downtown Waterloo and be very successful. It's not competition at all. This is all good."

The Techline office interiors business will move within the building's first floor to make way for the Voodoo Lounge. Techline co-owners Rene Dupont and Bryan Nichols said they'd rather not lose their first-floor corner spot at East Fourth and Sycamore Streets, but are glad to do it for the good of downtown.

"Is it the best for us? Probably not. But it's best for downtown that this happens," Nichols said. "We're more of an established business. Let's face it, with him (Beck) being here it's going to help everybody instead of just us. You've got to think about more than just yourself. You've got to think about what it's going to do for property values, what it's going to do for traffic, things like that."

"It's a great anchor because of the location, the ideal spot where it sits," Dupont said. "The department store days are over downtown. Donna's tried many things to develop it, but something like this I think will be ideal."

Downtown property owner and resident Chuck Orr, who has been renovating the Haffa and Fowler Mercantile buildings at East Fourth and Lafayette street over the past several years, said it will help that project and add to the diversity of entertainment offerings.

"We've got a tremendous mix on Fourth Street right now, with more to come," Orr said. "I've got nine apartments over there - three new ones, six are filled. We've got a lot of people who want to live downtown."

Contact Pat Kinney at (319) 291-1484 or pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com.