Amid downtown roadway construction, indoor construction is somehow still getting done. Main Street in the areas of 10th and 11th have been especially busy, but at the center of them is the Avery building at 1010 W. Main St., where a business is set to open for the first time in almost a decade.
It’s on Boise’s Gem Block, and the building, along with its neighbors in the Lower Main Street Commercial Historic District, were put on the National Park Service’s Historic Register in 1980.
Little did I know that a lot of you have fond memories there, not as the Avery, but as the Blues Bouquet bar and music venue. But, having been built in 1910, it has had many names.
Originally the A.S. Tiner building, 1010 W. Main St. housed the New Boz Theater and the Manitou Hotel (which is still visible on the east-facing wall of the fourth floor). But the building was referred to as the Averyl, named after the owner’s granddaughter. Over the years, though, the “l” was dropped from the name, and it became the Avery.
- After 50 years, the theater and hotel closed in the 1960s, leaving the three upper floors empty ever since.
- In the 1970s, Blues Bouquet opened on the ground floor. It was a nightclub and bar with musical performances fondly remembered by many Hey Boise readers — but it sounds like it was a pretty wild place, so you might not remember some of the nights.
- In 2015, Blues Bouquet closed, after which Cal Elliott, a Michelin-star chef, New York restauranteur, and Borah High graduate, bought the building, and hatched the building’s new plan.
A rendering of what the finished facade of the new Avery Hotel will look like. (Capital City Development Corporation)
Developer Michael Hormaechea, chef Cal Elliott, and designer Ashley Elliott have been renovating the building and preparing to open three entirely new businesses inside. They’re on track for a grand opening on Aug. 1, with a soft opening planned for July.
- The Avery will be a 39-room boutique hotel.
- Avery will be a restaurant, with seasonal menus created by Cal Elliott.
- Finally, as a nod to its original owners, Tiner’s Alley will be a tavern accessed by the alley behind The Avery.
Because of the building’s historical significance, the Capital City Development Corporation has chipped in to cover some of the estimated costs of over $14 million for restoration.
