Everything old is new again at the Soulard Preservation Hall, 1921 South Ninth Street, one of the freshest venues in the always-bustling neighborhood.

The hall dates to the 1890s and has been everything from a social hall to an ethical society to a Hungarian gathering place.

“If these walls could talk,” co-owner Nancy Novack says.

Now, it has been dusted off, overhauled and spit-shined into a modern yet stately event space.

The New Orleans-inspired venue, with a capacity of 325, is prime for jazz concerts, parties, receptions and events.

Smaller rooms on the second level equipped with flat-screen TVs can be used for meetings.

Novack, her husband, Aaron Novack, and Lindsay Barth quietly opened the Soulard Preservation Hall together, throwing $2 million into the space to make it better than it ever was, they believe.

“What we wanted to do was reconnect this building to the neighborhood,” says Nancy Novack, who along with her partners lamented the fact the space sat lackluster for years with fake stone and glass block windows.

“People knew of it, and a lot of people had been there,” says Novack, pointing out that Bob Brandhorst, who acquired the building in the ’80s, brought in zydeco bands.

“We wanted to take it back to a place with a lot more amenities than it ever had. It’s really a beautiful building, but it began to stick out like a sore thumb,” she says of the space, now the recipient of an award from the Landmarks Association of St. Louis.

Prices to use the nonsmoking venue are negotiable, the space is available nightly and daily, and a full liquor license is in effect.

Currently, Soulard Preservation Hall is considered a private space, meaning passers-by can’t just walk in for drinks, but the hope is that it’ll be open more when concerts are regularly booked.

Call 314-241-8181 or go to www.soulardpreservationhall.com for more information.