The full version of this article can be read in the Fall 2014 Issue of Defining Desert Living for azarchitecture/Jarson & Jarson Real Estate.
Like the proverbial bird of which Phoenix is named after, the restaurant that started as the Newton was reborn as the Newton.
Once a social spot for decades of customers, the English-inspired restaurant sat vacant and decayed into a hub for vagrants for almost a decade. It seemed destined to join hundreds of the valley’s vanishing architectural history.Whenever Venue Projects co-partner Lorenzo Perez visited it, he described the building as “frozen in time.” When the restaurant opened as the Newton in 1961, later Beefeaters, the restaurant’s atmosphere was a quintessential lounge vibe, dark with little natural sunlight.
Photo: Andrew Pielage
Dark and decaying, “It was a creepy place that made your hair stand up,” Perez said. “We’re walking in the back one day, all huddled together and [Southern Rail chef] Justin Beckett turned around, flashlight on his face, and said, ‘Does this remind you of The Blair Witch Project?’”
After original owner Jay Newton’s death in 2006, no one knew what do with his behemoth 18,000 sq. ft. space. A plan to adaptively reuse the building by Venue Projects using the existing structure was halted by the two million dollar price tag.
Time and neglect expedited its decay, and the listing price was knocked down, allowing them to obtain the building and begin stripping and mending the structure. Then the process of stripping down walls, establishing new ones and creating new window frames, as well as mending the structure began in earnest.
Photo Courtesy: Lorenzo Perez.
With a new design by Architect John Douglas, the building began a new life. Once clubby and confined, the new space infers nothing but openness. “Instead of being a one-liner where you show up to eat and shop, we thought, ‘How fun would it be if we’re entertaining, educating, getting people together for a communal experience?’” Perez said.
Not much exists from the old interior — the iconic dark stained wood walls are all gone. However, by the same edict, the new structure includes subtle reminders of the former building's identity. For instance, Perez’s co-partner John Kitchell planed old redwood for new surfaces, from the bar to the doors.Elsewhere, the ornate chandeliers were rehung and different shades of concrete flooring marked where old rooms started and ended.
Photo Courtesy: Lorenzo Perez.
Before The Newton opened in May, construction workers removed the husk of the Beefeater’s signage, but didn't throw it away. To mark what once was, the project’s partners laid the sign upon the entrance of the bookstore and etched the outline into the concrete.
That sign still evokes memories for many Phoenicians. But now instead of beef and bourbon, the bright future of The Newton is clearly intact, where happy patrons will reach for a novel and a pint instead, courtesy of Changing Hands Bookstore and First Draft Book Bar.
In a time when if's a big deal to see a bookstore open, it's equally a big deal to see an old Phoenix landmark repurposed.
“You could go broke trying to make these buildings perfect,” Perez said. “You gotta do the best you can and celebrate it.”
