Gray Moon Public Market reimagines a historic downtown building

Gray Moon Public Market wouldn’t have existed without Jerry Schwaller visiting the Newton Farmers Market one afternoon and thinking the experience could be duplicated year round in a defunct downtown building that many people had forgotten about. The market is defined by many other serendipitous experiences.

When word got around that Schwaller was renovating the Montgomery Ward Building, he got a text from a friend who told him he knew of a family that had the ornate statues from the top corners of the old exterior of the building. They were kept in a backyard in Newton. They have since been reapplied to the building.

Schwaller’s fascination with Montblanc pens encouraged him many years ago to strike up a conversation with a man at a half-price bookstore who kept one of the pens in his breast pocket. Schwaller and Gary Moon became good friends. Moon went by the Indian name Gray October Moon.

The market honors Schwaller’s now-departed friend and his positive qualities. “He was so eccentric, he was so unique and was such a friend to everybody — that’s really the environment we wanted,” Schwaller said in an interview with Newton News less than a week before the public market opened on Black Friday.

He had not planned to find those building artifacts, but they have contributed immensely to the historic renovation and preservation of the downtown building. His unexpected friendship with a fellow pen enthusiast contributed to the naming. The proximity of the farmers market to the building had to have an effect.

All of these experiences of happenstance were not planned. Schwaller admitted he is not that kind of person. Opportunities just fall into his lap. And what he has learned from this development project is that he is “too dumb to walk away and too stubborn to quit.” Sometimes, those are good qualities to have.

“It’s out of my control,” Schwaller said with a laugh. “I’m just along for the ride.”

NEW SPACE, NEW OPPORTUNITY

Located in the historic Montgomery Ward & Co. building on the 100 block of North Second Avenue East in downtown Newton, Gray Moon Public Market is as much as a social experience as it is a retail experience. But even that description doesn’t express all that the building is capable of when fully realized.

“It has the food, the retail, the coffee, the bar — everything is all in one,” he said. “This is actually a good footprint for Newton because it’s giving opportunities for people to come in, be an easy entry in for a business or an easy expansion for their business and hopefully stay here or grow into a bigger space.”

Retail shops are located on the second floor of Gray Moon Public Market, and so far the place is packed full of vendors. Schwaller said there is already a waiting list to get in. An event space is also on the second floor. The mezzanine connecting the two floors has space for up to five food vendors.

Ample seating for large groups and socializing is already established on the first floor with the bar, 2nd Ave. Social. Schwaller said more options will become available as time rolls on, including a coffee shop. Visitors of Gray Moon Public Market are encouraged to eat, drink, shop or hang out. Or even all of the above.

“I hope it gives the people in Newton an opportunity to go socialize and have fun,” Schwaller said. “The other thing I hope is that it lights a fire around other people that are real estate owners in town that come in and go, hmm, we want to up our game because we want this ball to keep rolling.”

In 1908, the building was originally established as an auto shop. Before the 1930s, the retail corporation Montgomery Ward & Co. purchased the building and raised it up to the form it is currently. Schwaller said historic tax credits were used to preserve the historic qualities of the building.

“The floors and ceiling and all that stuff is actually original,” Schwaller said of the building’s transformation. “…When you first walked in, it was really confined.”

Previous ownership of the building constructed walls to fit their specific needs. The mezzanine — which is now open — was completely boxed off, and the ceiling was about 17 feet tall. When visitors walk into Gray Moon Public Market, they’ll notice just how much space there is between the floors and ceiling now.

When Schwaller was first discussing prospects for the building at that fateful farmers market years ago, he wondered what the true layout of the building looked like. He saw the interior pillars and the original footprint and knew right away it was made to be a public market.

“It fit perfectly for the concept we were going for,” Schwaller said.

HISTORIC & AMBITIOUS BUSINESS PROJECT

The building had not been occupied for several decades. Montgomery Ward & Co. left the site in the 1980s, and since then it had taken on a number of different identities. Schwaller and his father spent a year “gutting” the place and disposing about 70 tons of debris that had accumulated over the years.

“And that was just to get it to the construction phase,” he said.

Schwaller has invested $4.6 million into the building. The resulting space has a newfound “wow factor” that he not only hopes visitors appreciate but future developers of Newton buildings; he hopes they see the value an investment like this can have on a community.

“This is something people in Des Moines will be like, ‘Wow!’ And so we’ve got it in Newton now,” Schwaller said. “I hope people are proud about that.”

The public market is a unique concept for Newton, which makes Schwaller’s project all the more ambitious. He recalled one of the earliest meetings he had with architects and general contractors, and there was only one question that was on his mind: What the heck am I thinking?

“A year later, I’m still thinking ‘What the heck am I thinking?’ It’s like what did I do? Why am I doing this? …But it worked out. Most importantly, the city stepped up and they helped immensely,” Schwaller said. “They understand the importance of this project. Without their support, this would not be here today.”

In a promotional video published on the City of Newton’s website, Newton Community Development Director Erin Chambers said in her 19 years working for the city the building has either been underutilized or vacant. Chambers commended Schwaller’s approach to the development.

“I think Jerry is your perfect local developer,” Chambers said in the promotional video. “(He’s) passionate about the community, which I think oftentimes outside developers don’t have. I’m thrilled to see it getting new life and new use but also preserving the past.”