NASHUA – Downtown Nashua has been quieter than usual this year, since a popular nightclub known as the Amber Room closed in March.

But in three weeks, a reinvented destination called Arena Sports Bar & Nightclub will open in its place, at 53 High St., under the same management but with a new attitude.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Bernie Goulet, Arena’s marketing and promotions manager. “Literally, not one single thing in this building is the same. It’s a 100 percent demolition.”

The Amber Room signed off on its five-year anniversary to the day, Goulet said.

“In this business, nightclubs have a staying power of two to three years,” he said. “It gets stale after a while. We stayed for five, but we had a vision for two years.”

That vision is a mix of old and new; the Arena isn’t intended to pick up where the Amber Room left off, Goulet explained, and the hall has seen a facelift from floors to ceiling.

The Amber Room once was an open, Egyptian-themed two-room dance hall with bars pushed up against the walls. The Arena is now split between a modern, sports-stadium-themed bar out front, with an ancient, sports-arena-themed dance hall out back.

Patrons moving from the sports bar to the nightclub will see one style flow into the other through a mural on the wall, which connects a colorful football stadium on the left to a gladiator-style Grecian arena on the right.

The sports bar will feature a full-service restaurant, featuring New York style hamburgers, Goulet said, plus a draft beer system with 48 lines.

Pool tables, 46 plasma televisions, and three 200-inch high-definition video screens line the walls.

A 100-foot, granite-top bar in the shape of a horsetrack is now front and center, topped by a news ticker that will blast sports updates from around the country.

Outdoors, a new patio is being built, facing Harbor Homes and the High Street parking garage, adding more real estate for patrons to hang out on busy evenings.

Indoors, in the Arena back room, a new, stone bar has been pulled out to the center of the room, with another smaller bar off the back corner, anchored by a disco ball.

Greek murals on the walls and columns separating booths from one another aim to take dancers back in time.

That, combined with a new performance stage, more speakers, amplifiers and a new digital sound system, may make the Arena the nightclub with the largest sound and lighting system in New Hampshire, Goulet said.

With the addition of the sports bar, the Arena staff jumps from a nightclub schedule to a full restaurant with assorted entertainment schedule.

Whereas the Amber Room operated Fridays and Saturdays from 9 p.m.-1 a.m., the Arena will be open from 3 p.m.-1 a.m. weeknights, and 11 a.m.-1 a.m. weekends, Goulet said.

Its staff will increase from approximately 40 employees to 60.

And instead of only targeting young adults from ages 18 through the early 20s, the new set-up aims to appeal to adults of all ages.

Some of the events on tap include the Dueling Pianos, acoustic music and rock ’n roll nights featuring local bands, karaoke and trivia. They also will host guest DJs and bands, Goulet said, and hope to kick off rock nights with Saving Abel on Sept. 27.

“Demographically, we’re increasing three times” in the target market, Goulet said.

The goal is to fill the hall to its 500-person capacity every weekend, he said, unwilling to reveal what was spent in the renovation.

Depending on licensing and permitting, the Arena hopes to open by the third week in September.

“People will randomly stop in to see what’s going on,” Goulet said. “The Facebook page has been blowing up. ‘When are you open?’ There’s a need for nightlife in New Hampshire that’s not being met right now.”

Meanwhile, the only other nightclub in Nashua, the Junkyard, on Amherst Street, has been making headlines recently for disturbances and citations for underage drinking.

“It’s just a question of running things by the law,” Goulet said, “We run a tight ship. … They’ve done their homework, they’ve done their research. That’s why I think we’ll be successful once again.”

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Gill on Twitter (@Telegraph_MAG).