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May 25--Spirits, bites, wine and dance are all mentioned on the business card of Rouge Cat, giving a good idea of what the new bar and nightclub at 101 W. Marcy St., across from City Hall and in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, is all about.

DJ Oona Bender, a longtime Santa Fe musician and disco personality who's manager of Rouge Cat, is glad to elaborate.

"It's two distinct venues," she said. "Upstairs is a wine bar/bistro, a neighborhood-type place. And downstairs is the dance club."

Bender last week discussed the new club as workers kept busy putting finishing touches on the elegant interior of the establishment, which will employ about a dozen people.

There will be dancing at Rouge Fox, of course, but no hip-hop music.

Bender explained: "It's definitely not a hip-hop venue -- that's not going to happen. We'll do things like classic disco, New Wave, and classic House. There's also '80s retro and contemporary dance music hip-hop is not our thing."

Drinks will be priced to compete with other downtown bars and restaurants and cost less than hotels'. There will be happy hour from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., when everything from the bar is a dollar off, she said.

Rouge Cat plans to offer food from nearby restaurants, but that won't start for a month or so. "It will be basic bar kind of food," Bender said.

The new business is in a leased, two-story building owned by Santa Fe businessman Paul DeDomenico.

"Usually when you tell a landlord you're starting a nightclub, they say they don't want it," Bender said. "Paul has been very supportive of our business."

Rouge Cat will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 4:30 p.m. until late night. With the coming of the summer scene, the hours get longer.

"We will bring a real vitality again to this side of town," Bender said. "It will allow locals to enjoy downtown, and for visitors it's all about being near the Santa Community Convention Center. We're also near downtown hotels people can walk to."

Once the music starts, Bender expects to be playing music herself on Wednesdays and Saturdays, her regular gigs as DJ Oona, while Disco Jo Jo will take over on Fridays. Other nights, different local DJs will play, she said. "I've got a feeling it will be every night of the week."

In addition to her latest gig, Bender has worked at various clubs around town, including the Paramount, the Cargo Club, Club Luna and -- going way back -- Club West.

Bender and others working at the club are pleased to be in a building that dates back to the 1940s and has a long history of different usage, most recently as a hair salon and before that as the home of CP Shades, a women's clothing store.

Rouge Cat is owned by City Hall, Inc., in which Heidi L. Spar is resident agent, according to the state Regulation and Licensing Department. City Hall Inc. bought the liquor license formerly used by the Green Onion, which went out of business in 2008.

Spar wasn't available for comment.

Bender took some time off from the music scene after the Paramount closed and got a degree in counseling from the College of Santa Fe.

"I thought I would be a therapist," she said, but there was an obstacle -- the DJ world kept calling her.

"I felt that was where I belonged," she said. "I just loved it."

Bender most recently was at Rainbow Vision, a retirement community, where she was in charge of the weekly Trash Disco party.

With the opening of Rouge Cat, "it's a whole new adventure," she said.

Rouge Cat requires a $28 one-time membership fee that gives those members $5 priority entry. Tourists and other short-time visitors will pay

$10 for entry