It isn’t often that the newest brewpub in the South Sound is also one of its oldest, but that’s the case these days.



Months after Alan McWain sold the landmark Spar Cafe, a 71-year-old Olympia hangout and meeting mainstay to the Portland-based McMenamins, the place is set to hold a grand reopening and return to its pedestal of South Sound establishments.



The Spar retained its original name when it reopened Jan. 16, after renovations that tipped the $300,000 mark and can best be described as extensive. The diner and bar has returned to the basic design it had when it first opened in 1935 with wide open spaces with a bar running the full length of the restaurant and pool tables next to a one-tank brewing facility.



“The Spar would have disappeared had the McMenamins not bought it,” McMenamins’ Regional Kitchen Manager Josh Trunnell says, noting that he lives in Olympia. “They made every effort to save what is here. There is something special about this place. That’s what the McMenamins bought more than just the space.”



The place has been transformed but not outwardly modernized. Walls are gone, and the joint has a whole new look that will all but ensure it will be more popular. Twenty percent more seats have been added to bring the restaurant’s capacity to about 220. Tables run along one wall and are covered by an iron frame while a special set of five tables in the back come complete with privacy curtains, a design touch to give a nod to the restaurant’s use as a lunchtime meeting facility for legislators and lobbyists.



The Spar will house the smallest brewery found throughout all of McMenamins’ properties and will use Olympia’s water, taken directly from the artesian spring that bubbles directly into the operation. Taps will offer McMenamins’ brews from sister operations, tried and true national brands as well as one from nearby Fish Brewing Co., which McMenamins considers to be a fellow traveler in the brewing world rather than competition in the downtown scene.



The Spar might even find its niche as a music venue after the dust settles following the grand opening. Live music could be in the works as early as this spring.



McMenamins already operates the Olympic Club and Olympic Club Hotel & Theater in Centralia as well as the pubs Six Arms and McMenamins Queen Anne in Seattle, and the Edgefield hotel in Oregon. McMenamins has more than 54 businesses in Washington and Oregon, including pubs, breweries, hotels and movie theaters, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.



Michael McMenamin doesn’t consider what his company has done to the Spar a renovation but a rejuvenation or a return to its historical glory by removing the layers of renovations and modifications it survived during the passing decades. Returning are the 16-foot ceilings and skylights as well as the massive dark-wood bar and cigar rack, which will continue to have smokes for sale, albeit for outside blazing only thanks to the state law banning smoking in all public areas.



“We want to maintain the integrity of the space,” McMenamin says.

A few additions seem to fit into the historic space nicely. One of them is an alcove by the entrance that can serve as a small meeting room for a group of about six or as a waiting room during rush hours.



“It’s a traditional thing in the British isles,” McMenamin says.

The wood beams and glass panels used to frame the alcove — called a snug — were imported from a 19th-century church in England, but actually are more at home in the South Sound than in the United Kingdom. The wood had been shipped to England from the Pacific Northwest around the 1880s.



Many of the Spar’s original furnishings will remain, including the antique tobacco counter that will now serve as the back bar along with several of the wooden barstools.



McMenamins’ company artists have also painted huge murals that depict the history of Olympia’s logging industry, McWain learning to tend bar from longtime employee Vi Lenhart and even state lobbyists brokering deals over rounds of cards.



The Spar’s breakfast menu will offer items including Dungeness crab benedict, original Spar toast with jam, hazelnut-crusted French toast and house-roasted coffee. The lunch and dinner menus will feature McMenamins’ signature burgers, fresh salads, pizzas and regional specialties such as Olympic oyster stew, Puget Sound steamer clams and Hogshead Whiskey-glazed salmon.



“We are trying to retain as much of the original Spar menu as possible while adding our own little twist,” Trunnell says.



[Spar Café, 114 4th Ave. E., Olympia, 360.357.6444]