Brick Street Market to expand in renovated space
By Vicky Wedig
Editor
Building and business owners will soon remove the plywood masking the sights and sounds of construction at the 101-year-old Van Velzer building in the 100 block of East Walworth Avenue.
“It’s going to be really dramatic when we first see the changes,” said Deb Alder, who purchased the building in November to honor her mother, Mary Jean Sullivan’s, love of Delavan after Sullivan died in December 2013 and left her daughter some “seed” money.
“She always just thought Delavan had a lot of potential if they could tap it,” Alder said.
Alder said the building, which has been comprised of three separate retail spaces on the street level in its century of existence, has been vacant for at least a year and was in foreclosure.
Alder had talked with Laura Jacobs-Welch, owner of the Brick Street Market three doors down at 104 E. Walworth Ave., who mentioned she was out of space in her 600-square-foot store but was hesitant to take on a building purchase. So, Alder spoke to real estate agent and Delavan alderman Chris Phillips, who was eager to tap the Van Velzer building’s potential. Alder purchased the building and hired Rick Martin Construction to connect the three spaces, and Brick Street Market will open in the space in June at 108, 110 and 116 E. Walworth Ave.
History
The three-story brick building was constructed in 1914 by the Van Velzer Co., which was a cigar manufacturer in Delavan, Alder said. Cigars were never made at the East Walworth Street store, but Van Valzer erected the building, likely as a retail investment, she said.
The building originally housed a theater in one section and the three spaces have had multiple and varied uses over the years, Alder said. Delavan residents might remember Morrissey’s bar in one section with a mangy taxidermy wolf in the window, she said.
Delavan Historical Society President Patti Marsicano’s book, “Forgotten Delavan,” shows a picture of the building in 1961 in which the wolf is visible under the Blatz beer sign and Badger Television and the Pub were next door at the time.
More recently, the spaces have housed a tattoo parlor, a dress shop and an art store.
Renovation
Rick Martin and his crew got into the building and began removing Dumpsters full of junk – 80 in all, Alder said. She said they removed layers of flooring – seven of them in one place including linoleum on top of carpeting.
Alder said she told Martin she wanted to find a few things when he began removing old materials – tin ceilings, brick walls and $1 million in the insulation. He delivered on one of those – underneath layers of drywall and plaster were original brick walls.
The brick was cleaned to remove soot from a fire that once occurred in the building, and openings were cut in the brick to join the three spaces.
An old, leaky boiler was removed from the “creepy” basement, a rickety stairway was removed and 100 years worth of boiler parts and old wiring were hauled out. On top of this, a company specializing in Basement Waterproofing Kingston made sure that the basement now has better protection against moisture
“I sort of feel like the building’s going, ‘Ahhh, I can breathe again,'” she said.
The single exit in the basement was replaced with two exits and two new stairways.
Though connected, the three stores will remain in separate section. Guests will enter in the eastern-most portion closest to China Garden that will contain a retail space with Brick Street Market’s cheeses and other merchandise and a commercial kitchen that is the size of Welch’s existing store, Alder said.
The middle section will house the Brick Street Market café and restrooms, and the western-most section will feature a wine-tasting area, wine cellar and fireplace.
The building also contains eight apartments on the second and third floors that hadn’t been renovated in 25 to 30 years, Alder said. The two apartments that were vacant have been renovated and others will be updated as tenants come and go.
Bauer Glass will install windows along the front of the building, so passers by who have been peering in through openings in the temporary plywood façade will soon have a full view of the interior, Alder said.
Signs across the plywood sheets showcase all the local contractors who are working on the renovation.
The rear of the building facing the alley will have a handicap ramp and an entrance into the store, and green boards that cover the windows will be replaced with glass block to allow light in and improve aesthetics, Alder said. Green chain link fence that blocks in the rear balconies of the apartments will be replaced with more attractive material.
