100-year-old basement's speakeasy legend gains new life in Chandler

A downtown Chandler basement built more than 100 years ago is being transformed into a bar that will pay tribute to its colorful history.

That is, the history that may or may not have happened, but probably did in some form. When it came to things like this, after all, people normally spoke in whispers and nods. A written record for future generations was out of the question.

Michael Merendino figures enough is known about the spot to honor what many say is its colorful past as a speakeasy of sorts during the 1920s and early '30s prohibition era, when booze was outlawed but flowed easily in countless hideaways found through word-of-mouth advertising among those who could be trusted.

It's hardly a given that the 102-year-old basement space at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Hotel actually did operate as a speakeasy in the traditional sense, but stories passed along through the years seem to hint at the possibility, or at the very least, that it was some sort of gathering place for a privileged few.

"We heard there were card games, there was drinking, there was gambling, there was womanizing," Merendino said. "We want to bring back that nostalgia.''

Merendino is owner of Crust, a Valley pizza and Italian food restaurant with locations in Phoenix and Scottsdale. He is working on another Crust location in downtown Chandler, which will open this summer in a space that is part of the hotel, located on the west side of Arizona Avenue a block south of Chandler Boulevard.

The original resort, featuring its distinct Mission Revival design, was built in 1912-13 by the city's founder, Dr. A.J. Chandler, and his partners. It opened in November 1913.

The Crust restaurant will be located at street level, at the hotel's southeast corner just north of SanTan Brewery. Merendino and his partner, Ryan Mitchell, have combined two vacant, above-ground spaces, including one formerly occupied by a Starbucks. The basement space beneath it will be transformed into a bar, tentatively named Prohibition.

The hotel has undergone several upgrades and additions through the years, but the space Merendino is leasing from the San Marcos is part of the original structure, with the basement still composed of the original concrete, steel and bricks that were used more than a century ago, said Jody Crago, administrator of the Chandler Museum and a city historian.

Crago and his colleagues at the museum have worked closely with the hotel to piece together its early history, using photo archives and old newspaper accounts of the hotel construction and operation after it opened. As far as anyone knows, the basement never was regularly open to the general public, but was used through the years by the hotel. In recent decades, it had been sealed off by concrete flooring from the top floor, blocking off an original staircase that led to the basement. The staircase recently was exposed during the work.

"The hotel itself was the very first poured, reinforced concrete building in all of Arizona. This was so it would be fireproof,'' Crago said.

Crago and Kim Moyers, Chandler's downtown redevelopment manager, each acknowledged in separate interviews there has been an oral tradition through the decades that the basement space once was used as a speakeasy during prohibition. They also agreed that nobody has been able to prove that was the case.

But that isn't quelling the buzz surrounding work being done to open the spot to the public.

"I think that it's really unique in the fact that the folklore is that it was a speakeasy,'' Moyers said. "Whether it was or wasn't is up for debate, but most certainly the folklore is there. So to be able to have a space that will have a reverse stairwell in downtown Chandler and people will be able to go into that space and think about what it might have or could have been in that era is kind of fun.''





Sorting through history

Working very much as history detectives, Crago and Nate Meyers, the museum's curator of collections, have pieced together a story of the hotel's early history that, in many ways, casts doubt on the likelihood that the basement ever was used as a speakeasy, at least in the traditional sense. Crago concedes the evidence is circumstantial, but convincing nevertheless.

The timing of the hotel construction in relation to prohibition is one reason.

Arizona voters actually chose to ban the sale, import and manufacture of alcoholic beverages in the state in 1914, five years before the national law went into effect. Since the hotel planning and construction took place well before the state law was adopted, it's not likely the basement was designed for illegal drinking, but more likely was planned as a storage space, Crago said.

Another factor to consider is the hotel's clientele, drawn to what was advertised as the new state's first destination resort, which would soon make the area "the Pasadena of the Salt River Valley," as one early poster billed it.

"I'm not sure who would go to the speakeasy at this period, because the hotel at this point, and into the '30s and '40s, was extremely exclusive — wealthier, East Coast industrialists," he said. "It's not the place where ruffians or some kind of music scene is going on, like a Chicago speakeasy ... If they were going to drink alcohol, the would probably pack it in their bags and drink it in their rooms."

A third clue comes from A.J. Chandler himself, who owned the hotel until 1937.

Chandler, a veterinarian who was working in Detroit, was recruited by territorial officials in 1887 to come to Arizona and work as the territory's first veterinarian surgeon, prompted by concerns that disease could ravage the region's fledgling cattle industry. Not long after arriving, he turned his attention in another direction, working with a seed company to develop new strains of crops that could survive in the arid climate, among them cotton.

Chandler and his partners acquired 18,000 acres from the federal government, land that is now part of the city of Chandler, and eventually started selling parcels to investors in 1912 on condition that they would have to build within a year. That was the start of what today is the city of Chandler.

His business savvy never waned, but there are reasons why a speakeasy might not have been among his interests, Crago said.

"Dr. Chandler was a Christian Scientist and from everything we've read — a lot of letters, and we've looked at a lot of family histories and stories — he was a teetotaler," Crago said.

"The man liked to earn money and there are times he did things that were on the edges of legality when it came to business practices," Crago said "He would skate the edge, just like a lot of businessmen have a tendency to do, but we've never see him advocate for alcohol and we find it really hard to believe that the man who was in charge of the hotel would somehow have to overlook this sense of his."

Ostriches instead of whiskey?

So what is known about the basement? Some hints lie around other stories and what can be seen there today.

It's unclear when the basement last was regularly used, but Merendino has heard it was as long ago as 1955. Crago said it may have been used as late as the 1970s.

When Merendino's work crews started the renovations they discovered a concrete staircase that led to the street level but long ago was covered by a concrete floor. Workers broke through that floor during renovation to expose the staircase. Prior to that, they could only access the basement through a small opening in the floor and lowering a ladder below. Crago said it appears the staircase originally led to an open walkway that later was enclosed — another argument against the speakeasy theory since it wasn't designed as some secret entryway.

Crago said the original concrete support beams and bricks were apparent in the basement right away. In addition, only a small portion of the floor had been finished — the rest is exposed dirt from the original excavation. There also were sinks and two restrooms, which indicated that the area had been used for something. Crago speculated that the sinks may have been used by early hotel photographers who used the space as a dark room.

Most likely, the entire area was used for hotel storage, including the possibility it stored ostrich feathers kept by Dr. Chandler, who also was famous for promoting the ostrich industry in the early 20th century. His ostriches were used to produce feathers used in women's hats prior to World War I, and were stored in the basement into the 1930s, long after the feather craze died.

After World War I broke out, Crago said, more conservative fashion trends took over and demand subsided. Chandler for years kept feathers stored in the hotel basement, only to take them out once a year to dry in the sun and treat them, before returning them to storage. He apparently did this into the early 1930s, Crago said.

"You're at least 12 years beyond anyone being interested in this, and he's still spending the time and energy to save these because he believed the industry was going to come back,''he said.

It never did. There is no record of what ever happened to Chandler's stockpile of feathers, Crago said.

Opening the space

Merendino said he plans to build a new staircase entrance leading to the basement bar. He plans no advertising and no signage — strictly word of mouth, the way a speakeasy would operate.

The work has created a fresh buzz in downtown Chandler, with nearby business owners welcoming the addition to the scene. The basement's history — real or legend — has only added to that buzz.

"All I know is that I was told that it was originally used to store ostrich feathers and that it was covered over in 1920 in order to create a speakeasy that would service hotel guests,'' said Anthony Canecchia, owner of SanTan Brewing Company, which opened in 2007 just to the south. "Prior to the current demo and remodel, there was evidence of names and dates carved into the walls from the 1920s through 1950s.''

Crago said he analyzed the writing closely. Some appear to be forged names of famous people such as Marilyn Monroe. Other writings appear to be recipes of some sort, possibly used by the hotel photographers.

To help infuse a feeling of nostalgia, Merendino purchased about a dozen circular booths from the Monti's La Casa Vieja restaurant in Tempe after it closed last year. The booths now are in the basement waiting to be anchored into place.

Merendino said he and his partner will end up investing at least $1 million into the renovations for the space, which he is leasing from the San Marcos. Hotel officials deferred to Crago when asked for comment about the space and its history.

Work in the basement has included updating electrical and plumbing, as well as some structural reinforcements, but nothing will compromise the original look of the space, he said. He hopes to open Crust early this summer, and Prohibition this fall.

Even though the history of the basement may be a little unclear, and evidence may work against the speakeasy theory, Merendino said he's happy to tout the legend as a way of showcasing the historic property.

Crago said regardless of the speakeasy angle, the space itself is a "fantastic'' historic gem and Merendino should be applauded for opening it to the public.

"Knowing or believing it was a speakeasy would be fantastic,'' Crago said. "But either way, it is a very unique space, and one that will be a wonderful place. There aren't enough of those unique areas around.''