Norwich — A Mystic man with a background in culinary arts, sales and customer service plans to open a martini lounge and comedy club in the former Mai Thai restaurant building at 327 Laurel Hill Ave. by the end of August or early September.

James Clanton, originally from Maryland, plans to feature a specialty crab cake recipe, sweet potato pie and cheesecake at the new Ambiance Lounge & Martini Bar.

The lounge menu also will feature steaks, seafood, sandwiches, “and lots of appetizers,” Clanton said, for patrons of the comedy club, which also will have live rhythm and blues music and theme nights.

Clanton and project manager/executive assistant Michelle Perez have been working with city inspectors and the Norwich Community Development Corp. to prepare to open.

They have applied for a state liquor license, and are working to decorate the interior with eclectic painting and wall décor for an “upscale feel,” Perez said.

Both have lived in eastern Connecticut for years — Clanton in Ledyard and Perez in Willimantic — and said they are well aware of the building's checkered past as the Mai Thai Restaurant & Bar.

On June 24, 2012, patron Donna Richardson was fatally shot and her niece, Crystal Roderick, was wounded when David Grant of Norwich fired shots into the crowd on the back deck at closing time.

Grant was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault on April 1, 2015.

Mai Thai closed immediately after the shooting and the bar owners surrendered their liquor license a month later.

The building had been vacant since then.

“I don't really feel I have to get over that,” Clanton said. “Everyone understands that place was mismanaged before. They didn't have any security and didn't make anybody feel safe."

"I'm going to close that deck in, with no access, except for handicap access," he said. "There'll be no hanging out on the outside deck and in the parking lot.”

Clanton and Perez plan to reach out to the neighborhood to assure residents and businesses that they plan to be responsible neighbors.

They want to host fundraisers for churches, civic groups and are planning a police comedy night.

“With everything going on right now, they deserve to have a night out for some good laughter,” Clanton said.

The lounge will have theme nights, such as Latino nights with Spanish food and music, birthday parties, baby showers for adults and early evening family comedy nights.

“I'm excited,” Clanton said. “I've heard bad stuff, but I feel I've been out there so long, I feel I can crack that place.”

Perez said the focus on comedy, with an upscale interior design, strong staff training and management, will overcome any negative reputation the building had four years ago.

“This is not the place it used to be,” she said. “We are creating something that's part of the community, getting involved with the community.”

Clanton currently works at a Massachusetts Hyundai dealership, and said he has 22 years of experience in customer service and sales businesses.

He said he studied culinary arts at the Connecticut School of Culinary Arts in Bristol in a concentrated one-year program.

Clanton signed a five-year lease with building owner Rosdev Capital Funding LP of Lakewood, N.J., brokered by Lyman Real Estate Brokerage & Development, which recently posted a “Deal Made” sign at the building.

Clanton said he has an option to buy the building after a year.

Norwich acting Police Chief Patrick Daley welcomed the prospect of a new development in the vacant former Laurel Hill Avenue School building, located in a prominent spot on busy Route 12.

“I think Norwich would love to have a successful restaurant venture there,” Daley said. “We look forward to having a relationship with them. Just because we've had problems there in the past doesn't mean we'll have problems in the future.”

c.bessette@theday.com