The Bair Drugstore shown here in a photo taken in the year 1900. Photo courtesy of the SHMA.
Bair Drug and Hardware Store, which closed for renovations two years ago, is about to begin a new chapter as the Bair Bistro. Sarah Cannon, who has Steilacoom ties, has leased the Bair from the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association and plans to open the restaurant this spring. She envisions the Bair Bistro as a gathering place, where people of all generations can settle in and enjoy comfort food at an affordable price. Customers with a sweet tooth will be especially pleased as the soda fountain is going to be open.
“We’ll be making our own sodas,” said Cannon.
She anticipates being open five days a week, with hours tentatively slated for 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cannon said the menu will be “heavy on the breakfast”, while evenings will be open for private parties.
“I like tradition,” Cannon said, and because it’s important to her, she plans to continue many of the same ones that were previously part of the Bair. “We’ll start out doing high tea once a month,” she commented. She also wants to revive the personalized coffee cup tradition, where customers who buy a mug can leave it at the Bair, inscribed with their name and reserved for their use during future visits. Mugs from previous customers line a shelf at the Bair, ready to be used again once the Bair reopens as the Bair Bistro.
Cannon wants to introduce some new features to the Bair as well. She’s going to open a walk-up window for those who want to take out food. “We’ll do curbside as well for the phone orders,” she explained. There are plans to have a kids’ day periodically, and she said the Bair will be available for children’s tea parties. She anticipates being open five days a week, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Evenings are open for private parties,” she stated.
If Cannon looks familiar to some residents, it could be because she has ties to the community. She has already joined the SHMA and the Steilacoom Chamber of Commerce, and although she doesn’t live in Steilacoom, her godmother does.
There were initially plans to open the Bair Bistro in November, Jack Brake, a SHMA representative, said. Although some renovation had been done, additional changes had to be made due to some building issues. The SHMA website states that “issues involving the existing grease interceptor resulted in the need for considerable review and operational adjustments by Pierce County Sewer Department, the Bair Committee and Sarah.”
When questioned why Cannon was inspired to lease the Bair, she mused, “There was something about the building.” She first became interested in leasing the Bair over a year ago, but someone had already signed a lease. When she inquired about the building for the second time a year later, she learned, “Someone had just signed the lease again.” Her persistent interest paid off, and Cannon was able to lease the building.
Sarah Cannon
Bair Drug and Hardware was built in 1895. It served not only as a hardware store and soda fountain, but also as a pharmacy and post office. A restaurant has been housed on the premises since 1977. The heirs of W.L. Bair donated the historic structure to SHMA in 1973. The current renovation project wasn’t the first one for the Bair; previous renovations were in 1976 and 1997. “The historical society has done a great job of keeping it up,” Cannon said of the historic building’s condition.
The collection of nineteenth century items such as mortars and pestles will still be displayed in the Bair after it reopens as the Bair Bistro. Brake said, “We just continue to want to use this building as the living museum.” He shared, “We from SHMA feel we have a real good fit with someone who loves the building and the community.”
Cannon said she welcomes the opportunity to meet people who stop by as she finishes preparing the building for opening. She looks forward to the opportunity to make the Bair Bistro a gather place. “I like getting people together,” Cannon said. “I’ve always seen that food does this.” The Bair Bistro is located on 1617 Lafayette Street in Steilacoom.