1313 Newcastle Street — Brunswick, Georgia
The Bijou Theatre at 1313 Newcastle Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — a building with a history that spans more than a century and includes, at some point in the late 1800s or early 1900s, a fire that burned the original theatre to its bones. What was left behind — charred heart pine beams embedded in tabby walls — was sealed inside the building when it was eventually rebuilt, and remained there, unseen, until Shropshire Built began demolition.
During selective demolition, the burned beams were found. Rather than remove and discard them, we recognized what they were: old-growth heart pine from the original Bijou Theatre — wood that had survived a fire, been sealed inside the rebuilt structure, and waited more than a century to be seen again. We had them remilled. They are now the window sills, the box beams in the residential space, the bookshelves, and the wall paneling. The Bijou is finished, in part, with its own history.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means every decision on this project — what to remove, what to preserve, how to introduce new work alongside original fabric — was made within a framework of historic preservation standards. Shropshire Built served as general contractor on the full scope: the interior was taken entirely to the studs — every system stripped out and rebuilt from scratch. New mechanical, electrical, and plumbing throughout. New low-voltage systems. Then structural framing, all partitions, finish carpentry, custom millwork, and the tabby wall niches that are the building's most compelling interior feature.
The renovation converts the building into a mixed-use property: commercial space on the ground floor, residential above. Working as GC meant coordinating every trade under one contract — accountable to one client, one schedule, and the particular discipline that a National Register property demands.
The rear elevation tells the story of the structural and envelope scope: new stucco finish applied over the full building face, new windows set into original openings with proper flashing and trim, a concrete retaining wall at grade, and a horizontal-slat wood privacy fence establishing the property boundary.
The front facade — facing Newcastle Street — was restored to present a historically consistent face to the corridor. The original parapet and decorative cornice detail were preserved. The Shropshire Built job-site sign on the construction fence documents who was responsible for delivering it.
Before Shropshire Built began renovation, the Bijou building appeared in its unrenovated state in Live by Night — the 2016 Warner Bros. film directed by and starring Ben Affleck, which used Newcastle Street as a stand-in for 1920s Ybor City, Tampa. The building Hollywood chose for its period character is the same building we were hired to restore.
Tabby is one of the oldest building materials in coastal Georgia — oyster shells, lime, sand, and water, cast in place. When you open a wall and find it, you have a choice: cover it back up, or keep it.
During construction of the Bijou, the original tabby walls were encountered during framing and partition work. Rather than build over them, Shropshire Built — working with the owner — designed and constructed a series of illuminated display niches: framed openings cut through the new drywall, revealing sections of the original tabby in place, lit from below with warm uplighting set into a custom hardwood sill.
The result lines the wall of the commercial space: a row of glowing windows into the building's original construction, each framed in white and lit as if on display in a museum.
The upright timber visible within the tabby is original structural material from the Bijou Theatre — heart pine embedded in the oyster-shell matrix when the building was first raised. It survived the theatre's fire. It was sealed inside the rebuilt structure. And it is still standing in that wall today, visible for the first time in more than a century, lit so that every person who walks through this building can see exactly what it is made of and how long it has stood.
The commercial ground floor, the reclaimed heart pine built-ins, and the entry door — three elements that together define the interior quality of the Bijou renovation.
Polished concrete floor, black painted ceiling with exposed ductwork, recessed can lighting on a clean grid, and white walls framing the tabby niches. A space designed to be flexible — gallery, retail, event — without committing to any one use. The built-in millwork at the far end anchors the back wall.
During selective demolition, burned heart pine beams were found inside the walls — timber from the original Bijou Theatre that had stood through the building's fire and been sealed inside the rebuilt structure for more than a century. Those beams were removed, remilled, and returned: now the window sills, the box beams overhead in the residential space, the bookshelves, and the tongue-and-groove wall paneling shown here. The Bijou is finished with its own history.
Dark-stained wood door with 15-light glass panels, a transom above, and flanking sidelights in white-painted wood casing. The exposed original brick visible above the door opening was retained in place — a material decision consistent with the tabby niches throughout. The view through the glass looks directly onto Newcastle Street and the restored historic buildings beyond.
The residential unit received the same level of finish as every other room in the building. The stair connecting the floors is finished with natural white oak treads, white painted risers, a wood handrail with black iron bracket mounts, and a black metal balustrade — clean, well-proportioned, and built to last.
The box beam overhead in the kitchen is fire-recovered heart pine from the original Bijou Theatre — the same burned timber found during demolition, remilled and reinstalled. The navy island cabinet with panel-and-rail detail, wide-plank white oak flooring, and a geometric iron pendant chandelier complete a kitchen that carries the full character of the building beneath it. The heart pine is not decorative. It is structural memory.
We take on commercial renovation, mixed-use development, and historic building projects across Brunswick, the Golden Isles, and coastal Georgia — as general contractor, from first shovel to final walkthrough.