photo by: Derek Redd

From left, Brooke Wetmore, daughter Madison Wetmore and Natalie Hamilton pose in front of the vault of the old Posins Jewelers, which is now part of the new 1306 event venue on Market Street. Brooke Wetmore and Hamilton have renovated the building to welcome all kinds of events.

WHEELING — A historic building located at 1306 Market St. in downtown Wheeling ended its tenure of vacancy and now boasts a brand new look as an event venue.

Occupying the space of the former Posins Jewelry, the building now boasts two residential units on the second and third floors, as well as the first floor venue, 1306, which accommodates small to medium sized events for up to 100 guests.

Sisters Brooke Wetmore and Natalie Hamilton grew up in Wheeling and took on the project together. Hamilton said it was always her goal to give new life to a historic building.

“I moved back to Wheeling probably about three or four years ago, and growing up here, I just always knew that if I was going to come back that I would want to rehab a historic building or a house,” she said.

The building is believed to date back to the early 1880s before its time as Posins Jewelry, which operated in the downtown Wheeling space from 1934 to the early 2000s.

The newly renovated 1306 venue features an open commercial kitchen, soft seating area, original Posins Jewelry safe, additional table and chair seating and two ADA accessible bathrooms.

The original Posins Jewelry tin ceiling was saved and restored as well as the woodwork around the windows. A picture frame containing Posins Jewelry receipts from the 1940s is displayed, paying homage to the building’s origin.

Wetmore said she wanted to incorporate modern elements to the historic space that resulted in a homey feel when designing the venue.

“I wanted it to feel like you’re almost in a house celebrating,” she said. “Our tagline is ‘gather here,’ so we want people to feel comfortable.”

The sisters referred to the space as being a family business. They received assistance from their parents, and Hamilton took charge of the residential spaces while Wetmore took the lead on planning and creating the downstairs venue. The sisters said the process wouldn’t have been possible with just the two of them.

“Our parents actually own the building, so they’ve been here cleaning and hauling stuff in and out,” Wetmore said. “It definitely takes more than one person to do this, but between the four of us we were able to separate the jobs and get everything done.”

Funding for the project was aided by historic tax credits through the State Historic Preservation Office, and Hamilton said she takes pride in her and her sister’s involvement in the revitalization of the downtown Wheeling area.

“We hope to really inspire other people to take on projects like this,” she said. “They’re not easy but I feel like if people that grew up here aren’t willing to take on these projects, it’s kind of hard to convince other people from you outside of Wheeling to do them.”

“I really feel like it’s almost our responsibility,” she continued.