Brewery seeks to blend old and new in Martinsville

Past, present and future are set to collide within the confines of Renewal Brewing, a new brewery in Uptown Martinsville.

Co-owners Herb Atwell and Karl Herzberg opened the doors to their brewery in late May.

“It’s been very positive, it’s been pretty good,” Herzberg said. “We want to get a few more [customers] in here, but it’s been good.”

The brewery’s theme, which Herzberg said is still a work in progress, is a jaunt through time, with each section of the brewery representing past, present or future.

“It’s a brewery that is going to be a restaurant also,” said Herzberg soon after opening the brewery’s doors. “Down here [in the building’s basement] it’s a speakeasy theme. The restaurant will be a full restaurant, probably pizza-driven, with some other items on the menu. Then we’re planning a rooftop bar … that is going to be more futuristic.”

Currently, the basement speakeasy is the only tangible part of the pair’s plans. Hertzberg said they don’t have a timeline yet for the completion of the ground-level restaurant or rooftop bar. Atwell believes the speakeasy is enough to hold customers’ interest.

“Everybody who walks in there says, ‘We’re walking out of Martinsville into another place,’” Atwell said, adding that they nailed the speakeasy’s decor. “I guess they can’t believe that Martinsville has a place like this.”

Walking into the bar is like taking a trip into the past. Everything from the leather upholstered furniture to the dark atmosphere is reminiscent of what most people imagine Prohibition-era speakeasies looked like. The space has an almost secretive atmosphere.

Atwell said all this was intentional. He said a speakeasy was a perfect fit, after learning about the building’s age and location on Franklin Street. It was constructed in 1893, he said, and was once an A&P Supermarket.

“We kept some of the stuff from the actual grocery store and implemented it into here,” Herzberg said, pointing out that their cold room was the original freezer built into the structure.

Herzberg said setting up shop in an older building had its challenges.

“There wasn’t anything extreme,” he said. “Everything wasn’t as straight because the building is old. When you go to build something, you’re dealing with uneven surfaces, which makes things more challenging.”

Atwell said it wasn’t their original intent to move into the building. After visiting Martinsville for an event at the city square, the pair noticed the building, which stood abandoned. They already intended to set up shop in the area, and the old building lent itself to the speakeasy decor the pair ultimately settled on.

Atwell, who owns the building, is still piecing together its history, but he’s adamant about preserving as much of the original structure as he can. This includes the original steel holding up the structure.

“The beams are all Carnegie Steel,” Atwell said, later adding, “I’m trying to find as much history about the building that I can.”

Carnegie Steel shuttered its doors in 1901 after having produced steel for a number of rail-related projects. Some of the company’s steel ended up in buildings, but as the years passed, finding Carnegie Steel in structures has become increasingly difficult.

“Carnegie started their steel works in 1870,” Atwell said. “It was some of the earliest steel that was available.”

Atwell said he hopes the brewery will endear itself to customers as a vision into the past. So far it appears to be working.

“I love your place. I came here last week, it was a great time,” said a man delivering packages to the company.

As the only brewery/speakeasy in Martinsville, the company makes its own product on site. Beers have names like Very Berry Sour or Re-New England IPA, the most popular. The beers are based on the pair’s years of experience as small-batch brewers.

“I’ve been professionally brewing now for seven years,” Herzberg said. “I’ve been a homebrewer for 20-plus years. That’s sort of how I learned.”

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