Demolition took a bit longer than anticipated (I expect this to be a reoccurring project theme) and we can see the final clean up in the photos that follow. While our building was originally built as a REO Motor Car showroom, garage and repair facility around 1910, for the last 20 plus years it has housed a wood worker, a furniture restorer, and a hair salon (all happily relocated). It was a mish mash of walls, false ceilings, and equipment. There was much hoping that the space was as interesting as we envisioned, and it took awhile to get it back to four walls a floor and a ceiling (although we are not yet sure where the real ceiling should be – more on that soon). While it still takes some imagination, it’s got all the bones we wanted.
Here’s the end of the demo:
What will eventually be the tap room entrance:
From the entrance into the space:
What will be the view into the tap room:
From the entrance looking into what will be seating and a large window into the brewhouse on the far wall:
So, what about that ceiling? We have 14 foot ceilings, more than adequate for everything we need – tanks, grist case, good feel in the tap room. But then we poked our head above the ceiling line and discovered we had another 4 feet of space until we hit the roof. Space that could be pretty stunning – massive steel trusses with rivets, wood ceiling, wood joists. How much is structural, what could be removed, additional cost of heating and cooling, how do we insulate, fire sprinkler and fire codes with and without the ceiling, demo cost, and 20 things I’m forgetting while trying to determine what to do. It’s one of those decisions that we have been mulling on for awhile, because there is no option to go back later.
Steel truss:
Wood ceiling:
It’s great to look at these spaces when they are wide open, because they won’t last like this for long. Walls go up, and it will be a lifetime or more before it’s like this again.
View into what will be the brewery on the left, tap room on the right:
View back to the tap room. The blue wall is an old door that will become an accordion glass door into the beer garden.
I’m hoping to post these updates on a regular basis. Next up will be the amount of permits, licenses, board reviews and approvals we’ve had to go through, and those still coming. I lost count at 14, and I’m not joking. When it looks like nothing is happening on the space, be sure that we are filling out forms and application, presenting to boards, getting approvals, jumping through hoops, and kissing babies. I’ll throw in the architectural plans to offset the tedium, because they are really kick-ass.
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