Parts of the old elevator, used in the days when the mortuary was in business, have been salvaged to form the base of a table located in the old chapel. The main floor of the two-story building includes a dining room and bar.

 A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star

Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink, in the old Reilly Funeral Home at 101 E. Pennington St. is opening for business today.

The restaurant, which features a menu of innovative pastas and pizzas, along with an intriguing cocktail list, opens at 11 a.m. today.

Owners Tyler and Zach Fenton took pains in the building’s $1 million renovation to retain much of the history of its predecessor, repurposing wood to accent one wall, exposing 100-year-old lattice work on another and refinishing the original wood floors. The three-story building was built in 1906. It opened as a funeral home two years later.

In perhaps two of the most unique historic preservation moves, the brothers — Zach is the manager, Tyler the executive chef — repurposed the gear shaft from the elevator into a glass table and bits of broken glasses and plates found during an excavation of the property into signs on the rest rooms.

Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The hours may be expanded come fall. Click here for details or call 882-5550.

Read the full story in Thursday's Caliente.

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