Cool Water Plans April Opening

Tracy Hoskins said he plans to open the largest restaurant in the area, Cool Water Village Cafe, sometime during the first half of April.

For the past year, Hoskins and his wife, Celeste, co-owner of the restaurant, have been renovating the 40,000-SF building at 2217 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville that previously housed Jokers Comedy Zone. Hoskins purchased the property in February 1999 from a business partner.

The couple has named the building Cool Water Village. The restaurant will occupy about 12,000 SF of space there. About 23,000 SF of the building will house Metro Collision Centers, a lease car remarketing business that Hoskins also owns. Metro Collision has more than doubled in size with the renovation. Another 5,000 SF of space in the building will be leased out.

The upscale restaurant will seat about 450, but that will be in several different rooms, making the atmosphere more intimate than it would be in one large dining room. Entrees will range in price from about $10 to $40, Hoskins said.

In addition to veranda, courtyard and private dining rooms, the restaurant will feature a billiards room, cigar/martini lounge and bar. Man-made waterfalls throughout the building will add to the atmosphere and justify the name Cool Water.

Hoskins, who owns a construction company, TK Home Builders, said he has worked to see that the building is unique, down to small details like handmade tables and light fixtures.

Coy Kaylor will manage the restaurant. Kaylor owned Coy’s Place in Fayetteville and served as manager of the restaurant in the Bentonville Ramada Inn. Cool Water will specialize in the same “in-demand items” that Kaylor prepared at Coy’s Place as well as some new items, Hoskins said.

The restaurant will be open seven days a week, probably from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Hoskins said. Live jazz, piano and acoustic guitar music will be a regular feature of Cool Water. Hoskins said he may provide dance music if enough customers request it, but he emphasized that the business is a restaurant, not a nightclub.

Tracy and Celeste Hoskins designed the interior with the help of a draftsman and had assistance from architect Rob Sharp on the exterior facade.