Take a walk off NoDa’s downtown core, one block down 35th Street, behind Cabo Fish Taco, over the railroad tracks and through the chainlink fence and you’ll find a whole new world coming to life in the shells of the long-unoccupied Newco Fiber warehouses.

Jay Tilyard along with Tracie Nasta, Bob Davis, Doug and Matt Gerin are converting 17,000 square feet in a former machine warehouse into a music and events venue called The Chop Shop. They join The Ultimate Gym and Hackerspace Charlotte in inviting the public to an otherwise forbidding rusted and concrete industrial wasteland. But that’s exactly why The Chop Shop is unique in NoDa and Charlotte.

The Chop Shop is a throwback to the roots of NoDa: a safe oasis off the beaten path for the truly creative and adventurous spirit in a very dramatic environment. Jay and crew have been navigating the code books, inspections and A.L.E. certifications for months in order to turn the first 7,000 square feet into a inviting and inspiring public space.

The Chop Shop is certainly not planning to steal Clear Channel concerts and chic bars away from the NC Music Factory or Epicentre. The renovation is not happening through a corporate bankroll or high-profile developer. Much of the decor is found relics of the machine shop restored and re-purposed.

Tracie Nasta has 10+ years of experience promoting events for Charlotte venues: Fat City, Visulite, The Steeple (formerly in Plaza Midwood), Tremont, 106.5fm and Verizon Amphitheater to name a few.

The building is quite an impressive labyrinth: 18-foot high exposed brick walls with remnants of original industrial fixtures, massive steel doors on tracks hanging from the pre-formed concrete ceilings with skylights, and scarred concrete floors with original paint circles showing the outline where machines once recycled fiber and scraps from the North Charlotte Mills.

The potential doesn’t end with the performance space either. Jay envisions a “NoDa inside of NoDa,” an outside courtyard that reuses an existing central loading dock as a place where people can inspire each other and share ideas. The “courtyard” and most of the complex sits in plain view of the proposed LYNX light rail station and passing trains.

The Chop Shop expects to host music only a few nights a week to start with. Off nights may host theme parties, groups, and generally act as a place to feel comfortable and be creative.

http://www.facebook.com/chop.shop.noda