USA, FL: Odd Colony Brewing Co. arriving in Pensacola
The Gothic architecture of the historic Sacred Heart Hospital is an architectural landmark in Pensacola, a building steeped in unique design and teeming with history, the Pensacola News Journal reported on October 14.
And soon, it'll be buzzing with new businesses as a beloved brewery and a mystery eatery prepare to move in.
The property, which sits at the corner of 12th Avenue and DeSoto Street, houses long-standing and beloved tenants like O’Zone Pizza Pub and the Montessori School of Pensacola, but the latest to announce its arrival is Palafox’s Odd Colony Brewing Co.
The brewery recently revealed in a social media post its plans to add a second location in the lower floor, which will transition into a Biergarten, lounge and eatery come spring.
“It’s been one hell of a trip these last three years,” Odd Colony staff wrote in the online statement. “We invited you to join us around the proverbial campfire many moons ago, and we’ve been enamored by the community’s support and camaraderie experienced thus far under the heart pine canopy in our Palafox sanctuary. That being said, we’re immensely curious creatures and as we’ve come to find, you are as well.”
With a little maintenance and personal touch, the Odd Colony team is transforming the space into a whimsical, underground space with a name that reflects its vibe: The Burrow.
Aside from Odd Colony’s building project, there is also ongoing construction for an eatery in the hospital’s bottom floor, Tower East Group Office Manager Michael Ritz said. The new café will come with a strikingly different concept than Odd Colony’s, but with a shared vision in modernizing the old space.
The restaurant aims to create a bright and airy aesthetic, with a back door entrance from the hospital’s courtyard. Details regarding what the eatery will serve are not able to be disclosed at this time, but will be announced in coming weeks.
The building isn’t for everyone, Ritz said, but the right tenants are always lured in by a creative vision.
The building, it is prime, was the poster child for medical innovation in the state, opening the first surgical, radiological, bacterial and therapeutic facilities in Florida. Ritz said they even installed skylights on the top floor to use for surgeries, because at the time, electricity was considered unreliable.
“Anything that was modern, at the time, was here,” Ritz said. “That’s why we’re kind of re-envisioning it.”
Since Ritz’s father and Tower East Group owner, Stephen Ritz, initiated the renovation process in 1980, the building has been used to house everything from restaurants and schools, to studios, salons and offices. Just a short walk outside in the morning will lead locals to The Orange Peel of East Hill food truck, which serves from-scratch coffee and breakfast foods in the parking lot.
“It’s an eclectic collection,” Ritz said of his current tenants. “They want to be here because they feel that they fit in the building.”
Odd Colony's online statement noted, “Fate would have it that it’s been tasked to us to take an early 1900s, Gothic architecture, old Sacred Heart hospital and convert it into a wilderness lodge and beer hall worthy of you fine folk we call friends.”
When bringing in a new tenant, some changes to the historic space are negotiable, and some definitely are e not. The original stone walls that are still standing since the building’s birth in 1915 must remain as is, Ritz said. But the floor tile, which covers only a slab of concrete beneath, is harmless to replace.
Stephen Ritz said about 40% of the hospital is left to be renovated.
Michael Ritz said it is evident how much the historic space has changed with the times, but they have been selective about modernizing while keeping the heart of the space intact.
“We are kind of the stewards of this building,” Ritz said.
14 October, 2022
