Great Escape at Old Salem Jail Opens Next Week

Great Escape, a new Italian restaurant and bar occupying the 19th century Salem Jail on St. Peter Street, is opening its doors for the first time at 4 p.m. on Sept. 20.

Over the past year, the jail has been restored and simultaneously renovated to include 23 apartment units developed by the venture capitalist group New Boston Ventures. Construction began in April 2009 and was completed this summer.

The development, called 50 St. Peter, includes 19 units in the main jail and two adjacent buildings — a historic 1860s brick mansion and a rebuilt carriage house, which houses another four apartments. 

Merry Fox Realty leases the units for the property owner. According to Dan Fox, a broker at the agency, all of the units are occupied.

The restaurant, which seats 78, is located inside the facility's brick structure, built in the 1860s as the jail's laundry room. The bar, with a full liquor license and 13 chairs, is in a grotto down a hallway lined with photographs of jail documents recovered in the building during renovation.

After its first two weeks in business, Great Escape will commence its regular hours.  The restaurant will be open seven nights a week until 1 a.m., said Great Escape general manager Shane Andrusoiewicz.

Andrusoiewicz said he has been managing the restaurant construction and opening since "day one." He personally built the bar, which is constructed from an original jail cell door.

According to Andrusoiewicz, the jail, originally built in 1813, was used as a prison up until 1990. Andrusoiewicz said he has "done a lot of research on the history of the jail."

Katie Hutchison, a Salem architect, said she visited the building with project architect Jim Alexander and was particularly impressed with renovations to the granite portion of the structure.

"They did a great job exposing the granite and brick so you feel like you're in an old jail," said Hutchison, who runs an independent design firm.

Works by photographer Paul Leyden liven up the walls. One photograph on two pieces of canvas depicts a rope made of bedclothes, which Leyton shot by photographing the sheets knotted together, hanging down the jail wall, Andrusoiewicz said.

An exhibit scheduled to be open to the public includes the last remaining cell from the original building, which visitors will be able to enter through a barred iron door.

Tom Daniel, the city's director of economic development, said the project to redevelop the Salem jail has been in the works for several years. According to Daniel, the project was granted approval in 2009.

Although the building is privately owned and occupied by tenants, there will be some public hours at the main entrance near the St. Peter's church.

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