Phoenix Upper Main owner aims to sell 300 memorial bricks from 2018 flood

In 2018, the historic red brick wall inside the Phoenix Emporium ‘s dining room collapsed, devastating the restaurant that had yet to fully recover from another Ellicott City flood two years earlier. Now, owner Mark Hemmis is offering up some of the bricks from the former restaurant space as souvenirs for a $40 donation. All funds raised will go to community charities.

Hemmis remembers the sacrifices that many community members made to help clean up the Phoenix Emporium’s wreckage, and the $38,000 in donations that poured in to help his employees pay their bills after the 2016 flood. Hemmis committed to putting that money back into the community and made it about halfway by 2018, when another flood once again tore up the restaurant.

Timeline: How Ellicott City flooded in 2016

Now, Hemmis is aiming to fulfill his goal of repaying Ellicott City community members for their generosity by offering up 300 bricks from the original emporium’s wall for sale, with all proceeds going to community charities.

“We’re always trying to find ways to give back to this community,” Hemmis said. “This is just another vehicle to do it.”

The Phoenix Emporium, founded in 1979, served Ellicott City’s historic district at 8049 Main Street until 2020, when Howard County government bought the building. The newly named Phoenix Upper Main is now open up the street, at 8308 Main.

For many, such as longtime Ellicott City resident Lori Shifflett, the restaurant has been a cornerstone of life in town. As a kid, she used to walk down the street with her two siblings to eat at the emporium, and Shifflett couldn’t pass up a chance to own a part of the original building.

“It’s nice just to have a piece of the history,” Shifflett said.

Nearly half of the bricks, marked with a plaque featuring the Phoenix Upper Main logo, have been sold since Hemmis emailed longtime customers on June 27. A Facebook post one day later gained even more attention and Hemmis expects all the bricks will be fully sold within at least a week, he said.

Jamie Maguire, a restaurant employee, has given out many bricks when customers come to pick them up.

“I don’t think I’ve given a brick to a single person [without] a giant smile on their face because they were so happy,” Maguire said.

Hemmis fully cleaned the bricks and paid for the engraved plaques to be attached. Some of the proceeds will go to Just In Power Kids , a nonprofit run by meteorologist Justin Berk, that aims to empower kids with cancer with treks across Maryland during the summer. Other groups that will benefit from the fundraiser have not been decided yet.

Carrie Foley, Phoenix Upper Main’s general manager, said the restaurant’s goal has always been to provide a “legacy of community.” It would have been easy for her to leave Ellicott City after the floods, Foley said, but she found it healing to work with the community on repair and recovery efforts.

“Everyone has a history here, a story here, and they’re all unique and really special,” Foley said.

Hemmis said he sees the restaurant as a piece of a greater whole in the community. Signs from the closed coffee shop Bean Hollow, a piece of awning from the Cacao Lane, original Phoenix signs and stained glass murals from a local studio all decorate the new restaurant to show off Ellicott City’s community.

“As we continue to evolve, we want to honor our past,” Hemmis said. “We just want to be part of this and give a place for people to come together.”

Bricks can be purchased online or in person, and picked up at the restaurant. Phoenix Upper Main is open Tuesdays through Sundays starting at noon.