Reimagining a courthouse

Historic Harbour Grace building will be a new destination for locals, tourists

Sounds of construction filled the air inside the old courthouse in Harbour Grace last week.

The 190-year-old building is getting much more than a fresh coat of paint. For the most part, it is a complete reimagining of how to use the historic property.

Co-owners Brenda O’reilly and her husband, Craig Flynn, are the brains behind this project. The pair bought the courthouse building in 2019 intending to turn it into a speakeasy and event space.

A few months before that purchase, they also bought the former Catholic church located just down the road from the old courthouse.

They hope to have the courthouse open at some point this summer and they are excited to get things going.

“It is going to be a fun summer for us,” said O’reilly.

Leaning on the downstairs bar of what will be the Courtroom No. 2 Speakeasy, O’reilly could see the symmetry that carried her to Harbour Grace.

The courthouse was built by Patrick Keough. He also built the Stone House in St. John’s, which O’reilly owned at one point. Furthermore, the courthouse is located on Harvey Street, a street that shares her mother’s maiden name.

Those linkages continue with the church. It opened in 1892, the same year a massive fire devastated St. John’s. The fire stopped going west at the building that now houses the Yellowbelly Brewery in St. John’s, which O’reilly and Flynn also own.

Like the church, that building is located on Water Street.

“I just see those kinds of things as synergies and … to me, in my life they fit a puzzle,” said O’reilly.

AN OVERHAUL

The courthouse’s transformation is striking. Stepping through the downstairs entrance to the building, people will be ushered through a door with a beautiful glass pane and welcomed into the transformed Courtroom No. 2.

Now named the Courtroom No. 2 Speakeasy, it is a suave lounge rather than a place of justice. Couches sit where wooden pews used to be. In one corner will be the bar, and across from that will be an area known as the holding cell.

Just about every space in the building will be utilized to provide a unique experience for patrons. The hallway that leads to the jailyard is lined with cells. Each of them will be available to use as rentable space and each will be decorated with pieces of information about the courthouse.

The former jailyard will be a beer garden and will have access to the renovated upstairs area. A stairwell was added to allow people to move through the building without having to go outside.

Gone is the carpet of the main courtroom, replaced with new flooring and a new coat of paint. The former judge’s office behind the far wall has been revamped and could serve as the bride’s room for weddings, among other functions.

The small balcony could serve as table space, as could the room behind it that O’reilly calls the law library. Used for storage now, it contains the law books found in the building. It could serve as another private venue.

On top of that, the jailer’s residence on the west end of the building has also been renovated for future use.

“It is going to be really cool to see it all come together,” said O’reilly.

REUSING HISTORY

A building like the courthouse comes with any number of pieces of local history.

O’reilly has found things like iron shackles, water containers and other items that call back to an earlier era for the building.

The plan is to use as much of those old materials in the design of the building as they can, to enhance the historical feel of the building.

Patrick Collins, a local historian and chairperson of the Conception Bay Museum board, said revitalizing the courthouse keeps its story alive. The work being done just adds to the story of the building, he said, and he is pleased it is still a vital part of Harbour Grace.

“I think it is a wonderful thing, as I think will be the work on the cathedral when we start seeing that going into high gear,” Collins said. “It is a plus-plus for the town.”

Although they haven’t started in earnest yet, the plan is to build a 53-room hotel on the church grounds that would connect to the historic cathedral. A beer spa would be in the basement and a wine bar would be in the lobby.

The church building will house a brewery and a distillery, and serve as an events space. The altar is going to serve as a stage.

Altogether, O’reilly sees it being a destination attraction for Harbour Grace and the region.

“We plan on making it a very usable public space that people can gather and meet and enjoy without taking away from the heritage and history of that beautiful building,” said O’reilly.