It was back to the future this week in Carroll Gardens, as a 1920s-era pharmacy was renovated courtesy of the magic of television, a reawakening of a Henry Street relic that has stood fallow for over a decade.
On Tuesday, crews from the Discovery Channel reality show, “Construction Intervention,” were finishing up the final touches on the four-day restoration of the old Vermont Market and Pharmacy, transforming it into Brooklyn Farmacy and readying for the “big reveal” to owner Petey Freeman.
On the show, crews work at breakneck speed to rehabilitate businesses or commercial spaces, according to Charles Frattini, the show’s host and Canarsie native.
In the case of Vermont Market, Frattini said the project presented a major structural challenge, as the building’s horizontal support beams had been eaten away by termites.
“We had to replace every one of them,” he said.
After that, the job became a restoration project, as workers hurried to bring back the original luster to the floor’s penny tiling, fix damaged portions of the tin ceiling, and restored the oak paneling, shelving and drawers that give the place an anachronistic charm.
From the look of things, the show did the old Longo pharmacy, its original incarnation, proud.
Polished soda fountains stand at the ready, while an old nickel scale stands guard near the door, anticipating patrons to enliven this veritable museum. In the back of the shop, beyond the oak bar and past a fully functional dumbwaiter, a Depression-era jukebox buttresses a wall. An array of dusty tins and bottles holding all manner of pharmacological powder and potion — once vital healing aids — now serve as authentic decoration.
In October, the long-shuttered shop opened for a day, a tantalizing glimpse of things to come for a store that is basically a “museum” of the history of Carroll Gardens, said Janelle Fiorito, the show’s executive producer.
“We loved the idea of helping to bring it back to the people,” she said.
Residents cheered the $450,000 renovation.
“This will provide something the community will both deserve and appreciate,” said Ina Bransome, who lives above the Farmacy.
“I will now live in a building that is not an eyesore, but rather a place that people will gather around and enjoy.”
Along with egg creams and other sudsy concoctions, the shop is expected to sell organic, local produce.
