Downtown North
Chillin’ at the Ice House
Story By TORI ELGIN | Photographs by CONRAD EARNEST
If
you don’t regularly venture to the north end of Downtown
Bryan, put it on your New Year’s resolution list to keep an eye
on the redevelopment that has already begun. Together, the Ice
House on Main and a new mixed-use development by R+T Studio
will redefine how to eat, shop, stay, and play in the historic center
of Bryan.
102 YEARS CHILLIN’
Joan and Jose Quintana have already made an indelible mark
on Historic Downtown Bryan. Taking a walk with Jose up and
down Main and Bryan streets to the SEAD Gallery, Innovation
Underground, Grand Stafford Theater, and most recently, The
Amity Building underscores how deep is the couple’s commitment
to the urbanization of Downtown Bryan.
Their philosophy is simple. “We try to hear what’s missing, and
if the community wants to support it, we just do it,” explains Jose
Quintana.
Next up is the redevelopment of the Ice House on Main.
Anchoring the northern tip of Downtown for the past 102 years,
the building has hosted an icehouse, a local distribution company,
a tractor dealership, a dance hall, and even a furniture restoration
business. The Quintanas’ have a different vision for its future: “We
want to make this a community building, an engagement space for
the community to use,” says Jose Quintana.
Envision an event center in the spacious back of the building
that can comfortably fit up to 500 people. The middle section will
10
INSITE January 2016
RENDERINGS COURTESY OF R+T STUDIO, LLC
TOP RENDERING: GARDEN ENTRANCE PHASE 1 OF THE 500 BRYAN NORTH
DEVELOPMENT. BOTTON: AERIAL VIEW OF THE BRYAN AVE. DEVELOPMENT