Newmarket born-and-raised entrepreneur Jack Doak hopes to rekindle a relationship with an old flame in town.
After all, the name of Doak’s award-winning Port Perry brewery — Old Flame Brewing Co. — was distilled during his first bid to launch the brand-new business seven years ago from the old fire hall on Main Street.
Now, a second chance is on the horizon. The Town of Newmarket has issued a request for proposals that it hopes will generate strong interest from qualified vendors for a new commercial use for the first time at the 140 Main St. S. building in its historic downtown.
Doak is one of a potential six individuals and companies that expressed an interest in the property in the past.
Officially to date, Doak has registered as a bidder in the competitive process, along with Toronto firm Taylor Hazell Architects, whose co-founder, Jill Taylor, is regarded as a leader in the heritage conservation field, with an expertise in adaptive reuse.
Proposals for the circa-1952 fire hall at the corner of Main Street and Millard Avenue will be accepted until Feb. 12.
“Old Flame wants to come back to Newmarket and we’ll crush it there,” Doak said. “We want very much to have this happen.”
Doak is working on a proposal that will outline his vision for the property, one which is under wraps for now.
“What I will say is that we will do an amazing job of restoring that building and making it into something that Newmarket will be very proud of,” he said.
The old fire hall itself has been vacant for at least a decade but has managed to survive suggestions it be razed for a parking lot, along with concerns about its general state of disrepair from inconsistent use and old oil drums that were located on the property.
It has been more than 50 years since the space served as Newmarket’s main fire hall. Since then, various community groups have called the building home, including the Elman W. Campbell Museum, local choirs and barbershoppers and, at one time, a Montessori school.
Mayor John Taylor said the town has done its due diligence with respect to the property and that it meets all provincial standards for the potential uses outlined in the request for proposal.
“It’s good to go,” Taylor said. “There are no health and safety concerns at all.”
“I think Main Street is excited about it and because it’s such a cool building and such an amazing location, I’m very hopeful we’re going to get a strong response,” Taylor added.
“Hopefully, in a year or two from now, we’ll see another step forward for Main Street, like The George (restaurant at 236 Main St. S.). We’ll all be walking in and saying what a great new space.”
In its request for proposals, the town is specifically looking for commercial ideas that meets the following criteria:
- Provides a benefit or service to the community, which includes improved activation on Main Street and cultural enhancement in the downtown.
- Complements existing economic development and planning strategies of the town as well as Business Improvement Area (BIA) initiatives and strategies.
- Provides financial contributions through the lease (such as renovations) to accommodate the proposed commercial use as well as capital /lease contributions that will eliminate current town expenditures on the property.
Newmarket’s economic development officer Chris Kallio said a committee made up of town staff will evaluate all the proposals against the criteria with a scoring system, and the proposal that scores the most points will be recommended as the top proponent to council.
It is up to council to decide the winning bidder.
“If we get a really good, solid proposal that will do a lot of great things for the downtown, then we’ll go forward,” Kallio said. “There’s been a lot of interest ever since it’s been closed the past seven or eight years and people have come to us asking to look at it because they have ideas.”
The Town of Newmarket will retain ownership of the 5,000-square-foot property, which is regarded as an iconic mid-20th century fire hall, but has not been designated as heritage.
