Plans for a Wilmington Brewing Co. event venue at 800 S. Kerr Ave. are progressing, with technical aspects of the project set to be considered by the city of Wilmington this month.
The event space will be 5,000 square feet on a 3-acre lot adjacent to the brewery and taproom's existing location at 842 S. Kerr Ave. in Wilmington. The owners of the brewing company shared architectural renderings Wednesday for the facility, which can seat 200 and will also have at least 50 parking spaces, according to project drawings.
"We have plans to renovate our current space for more brewing, but the new space, it will just be for special events and really anything we want to do over there," said Michelle Savard, who co-owns the brewery with her husband, John. "We're thinking about doing our can releases over there, or if somebody wants to use it for a birthday party or a wedding reception. We plan to use barrels and big, garage glass doors and make it really open and available to whatever event."
Though referred to as S. Kerr Assembly Hall on site plans, which were completed by Intracoastal Engineering, that is not its official moniker.
"We jokingly right now call it 'The Lumber Yard' because it's a wooded lot, which might catch on. But we haven't officially named it yet," Michelle Savard said.
The event space will include a patio area that faces the woods, she said.
"There's a stream that runs behind it. It's actually pretty. It's on Kerr Avenue, but it feels tucked away. We're going to save a lot of the natural landscaping around it," Michelle Savard said.
Dogwood Architecture designed the space, and Christopher Building Co. is the general contractor.
"I would love for it to be done tomorrow but probably about a year" is how long it would take for the event space to be built, Michelle Savard said, depending on weather and other construction factors.
The planned renovation at Wilmington Brewing Co.'s existing space will include adding fermentation space, which will allow the brewery to can and keg more beer.
The company is expecting to produce 3,500 barrels of beer this year, according to
a previous Greater Wilmington Business Journal story on the project.