Thomas Clouse: The Dirt: Pizza restaurant owners to open Bison Bar in Hillyard

Jul. 14—The Bison Bar could be coming to Hillyard by the end of the summer.

Aaron and Angel Fiorini, who own two Market Street Pizza locations, appear to be close to obtaining building permits from the city of Spokane to convert the former Masonic Building in Hillyard to a three-story venue that will feature the Bison Bar on the ground floor.

The address for the proposed Bison Bar is 5201 N. Market St.

"We have been working on the building for a year-and-a-half," Aaron Fiorini said. "It's been insane."

The project includes a kitchen and bar remodel on the ground floor of the circa 1930 building and upgrades throughout.

The second floor will feature a speak-easy-themed venue called the Capital Club. The third floor will include a ball room called the Hill House Event Center.

"We will be doing weddings and small acoustic shows," said Fiorini, referring to Hill House. "We are working right now on refinishing the 100-year-old maple floors and bringing them back to existence.

"The whole building will have kind of a 1930s Chicago pub feel to it," he said. "It's kind of a 1930s speak-easy, post-Prohibition."

As a self-contractor, Aaron Fironi has been doing work up to now that did not require a permit, he said. However, city planners required the Fiorinis to retrofit and install a sprinkler system in the building.

"We just got that done. It was a lot of money and time," he said.

The couple was born and raised in Hillyard and has been focused on revitalization efforts, Aaron said.

"We really wanted to help improve this neighborhood," he said. "I'm such a fan of antiques and historical buildings. It would have been a shame to come in and do modern stuff in here. We are working to bring the old beauty back."

The Bison will include a 40-foot oak bar they found in Everett, Washington.

"It's got that old feel," Fiorini said. "It's going to be a pretty cool space."

For four years, the couple has operated Market Street Pizza at 2721 N. Market St., and they recently opened a second restaurant, Market Street Pizza Valley, at 11420 E Sprague Ave.

The Hillyard permit calls for renovating a total of about 25,107 square feet, and the expected cost of the project is listed at $350,000.

Asked when he hopes to open the Bison Bar, speak-easy and Hill House, Fiorini said it depends on the building permit.

"I hate to say anything definitive," he said. "But, I'm really shooting for football season this September."

The couple also purchased the building next door, which is home to Jones Smokehouse and Cantina, 5209 N. Market St.

"We purchased that whole (block)," Fiorini said.

The smaller building originally was a barber shop and later a shoe repair shop in the early 1900s.

Fiorini hopes to convert it to an old-school soda fountain.

"We are working on getting that open as well," he said.

He noted that a lot of historic buildings in Hillyard have remained idle for some time.

"There is a lot of life being put into that neighborhood. A lot of restaurants and retail is going in," he said. "We are just hoping to be part of it."

Bellwether seeks new permit for Hillyard project

Just down the street on Market Street, the owner of Bellwether Brewery, who has been working to renovate the former United Hillyard Antique Mall into a brewery, coffee bar and cidery, has requested a new permit from Spokane city planners.

Dave Musser, who announced plans in 2021 to convert the space at 5016 N. Market into the United, has submitted a new request to remodel the upper floor into a toy store and game shop at the same address.

Two years ago, Musser filed plans to convert 3,200 square feet of the United into a new brewery and coffee shop.

The two-story brick building was built in 1920 and designed by Spokane architect Henry Bertelsen. The building housed the United Hillyard Bank and is among several properties in the Hillyard Historic Business District.

It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and the Spokane Historic Register in 2003.

Musser could not immediately be reached for comment.