PORT TOWNSEND — Water Street Brewery and Ale House drew a lively crowd of regulars, old friends and well-wishers Thursday for its last night as a key part of the local bar scene.
The business owned by Mark Burr and Nina Law was evicted from its downtown location at 639 Water St. as a result of a landlord-tenant dispute, both parties said. The court-ordered eviction notice said they must be out by 10 a.m. today.
So on Thursday night, they threw a goodbye bash.
By the time the music started at around 7:30 p.m., about 60 people had crowded in to meet at the pub, which has operated there for six years, for the last time.
Law collapsed about an hour before the party was to begin and was taken by ambulance to Jefferson Healthcare hospital as a result of what one of her friends called “stress.”
“She has dealt with a lot over the last year and a half,” said Carrie McDougall, who was sitting with Law in the emergency room on Thursday night. “It all caught up with her.”
McDougall said that Law would not stay overnight in the hospital, and that she might be at the party later.
The crowd included some who traveled several hours to say goodbye.
Regular visits
Gary Van Horn of Edmonds has made regular visits to the club, for the friendly feeling and the good drinks it serves, he said.
Jeff Douglass, a regular since moving to Port Townsend in 1979, said the bar was “a center of liberal activity and good music” for several years.
“Every meaningful relationship that I’ve had with a woman started here,” he said.
“One in about 1982 began when I was a bartender and this girl fell back, hit her head and passed out,” he said. “We were together for 10 years.”
Regular Steve McDougall said the bar draws all types and “a lot of business deals are done in here.
“People come down here to have a drink but they also go to other bars and eat downtown,” he said. “When this closes it will take a chunk out of downtown.”
The pub was in a building, first known as the N.D. Hill Brick Building, that was built in 1889 at a cost of $25,000, the Jefferson County Historical Society said.
It housed a pharmacy until it was purchased in 1928 and converted into the DeVillio Hotel, with rooms renting from 75 cents to $1.25 a night.
Tavern since 1929
A tavern has operated out of the ground floor since 1929, with the top floor functioning as a hotel and long term residence since then.
The tavern, first known as the IT Tavern, morphed into the Town Tavern, which was the setting for the barroom scene featuring Richard Gere and Debra Winger in the 1982 movie, “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
The Town Tavern was in business until 1996, when the current owners opened Maxwell’s.
Maxwell’s closed in 2004 and Water Street Brewing opened in the spot.
Building owner Chris Sudlow of Water Street Corp, who was in a dispute with Law and co-owner Mark Burr of Triple Mash Corp over a variety of issues, said he had several people interested in opening a restaurant in the space in the heart of downtown.
He estimated it would be at least three to six months because of repairs.
“We will have someone in there as soon as we can,” he said.
All of the property owned by the business — including beer-brewing equipment — is being moved to a storage locker and the business owners hope to open in another local location in the near future, Burr said.
“We have a few places in mind,” he said.
Large painting
Among the artifacts is a large painting of a nude surrounded by demons by Canadian artist Terrance Merx that could be glimpsed in the scene in “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
The painting was moved out of the bar when it changed hands and turned up on eBay, where it was purchased by former Port Townsend resident Stephanie Fairlee, who now lives in California.
Fairlee sent the painting to Port Townsend, to the Jefferson County Historical Society, which displayed it from 2003 to 2004.
When the restaurant opened as Water Street Brewing in 2004, the painting was moved into the bar.
If the new owners want the painting, it will stay where it is, Tennant said.
“Otherwise we’ll bring it back to the museum,” he said.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
