A new two-story building is taking shape on one of downtown Fairhope’s busiest corners, and the developer behind it says the finished project will look like it has stood there for generations.
Construction is underway at the southeast corner of Fairhope Avenue and Church Street, where developer John Bethea is building what he calls the Theater Building. The ground floor will house two clothing retailers and a location of Another Broken Egg Cafe, while offices are planned for the second story.
Bethea describes the design as New Orleans-influenced, with old brick, mahogany doors and heavy ironwork intended to evoke the look of a much older structure. “It’s going to look like a historic building when I finish with it,” he said. “It’s going to look like a building that’s been here for a couple hundred years.”
Bethea originally partnered with retired Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge James Reid to develop the site, but the two later worked out a property swap involving land on Magnolia Avenue that left Bethea as the sole developer moving forward.
The new construction replaces a beloved but troubled piece of Fairhope history. A building on the same footprint burned in a 2010 fire, cutting short what had been a long run as a retail hub called Village Square. Before that, the site was home to the Magnet Theater, which opened in 1924 and operated as a movie house until 1974 — the inspiration for the new building’s name. The property had even been listed among the state’s historic “Places in Peril” in 2003, years before the fire finally forced its demolition.
Fairhope Mayor Tim Kant said city inspectors determined after the fire that the structure was too compromised to save. “We had to work with the owner and have the building removed,” he said, adding that city crews and the developer have made a point of preserving a large heritage oak tree on the Church Street side of the property throughout construction.
Kant said the new building fits into downtown Fairhope’s identity as a walkable destination for shopping and dining. “It will add to our downtown experience,” he said. “We’ve always been great about having places to eat and shop, so any time we can have a major corner like that — where this is at — it will help bring more people downtown.”
The project has been in the works since 2012 and will total roughly 12,736 square feet once complete. Bethea is targeting an opening around April 2015, though he cautioned that construction timelines can shift. He said the collaboration with city officials throughout permitting and construction has gone smoothly. “It’s just going right along,” he said. “It’s exciting. Me and the city have been getting along pretty good.”