Something’s brewing on Chestnut Street, and it doesn’t involve witches or cauldrons.
After years of work and renovations to a run-down building, the Bradford Brew Station will open to the public at 3:30 p.m. today.
Todd and Tammi Hennard have been working for a few years now to breathe life back into an old building in the city’s downtown to open a brew pub.
“Breweries have been popping up all over the state, and New York state has a ton of them also,” Todd Hennard said. “Bradford was definitely due for a microbrewery.”
And the business is a story of Bradford, with local contractors doing everything from renovating the building to making the brewery parts — to even making the labels. The history of the region will be evident inside the Brew Station as well.
“The theme decor is Pennsylvania oil history,” Hennard explained, “and it is cool.”
Kendall and Quaker State are both represented, and some other familiar names.
“Even the beers are named after local oil history — Yellow Dog Honey Ale, Peg Leg Porter, Roustabout’s Racking Ale, Powerhouse Pale Ale,” he said.
Hennard Construction did much of the work on the old brick building at 104 Chestnut St., along with local contractors including Frisina Concrete and Paving, Minich Electric, Safetech Fire Systems, Swanson’s Fabricating, Cousins Tap Systems and Sherman Refrigeration.
“We are really promoting doing business locally,” he said “Many of the brewery parts were manufactured at Top Line. The labels are all made at McCourt Label. We used local contractors to build it, local people for the security system.
“We hope the public returns the favor,” he said.
The Hennards believe in shopping locally so much, that they will be wearing their own advice.
“On the back of our sweatshirts, it promotes ‘drink local,’” he said. And the brew pub’s menu is meant to complement restaurants in town, not compete with them.
Hennard explained a bit about how the location was selected.
“We looked at buildings all over town and they all had their pros and cons,” he said. “This building had the hotels close by, and it’s close to the Zippo Museum.”
The restaurant is in the city’s Second Ward Neighborhood Partnership Program area, too. That project has been working on renovating the aging neighborhood through a partnership agreement with funding from private businesses.
Hennard said the project has done an “incredible job of improving the appearance of the area,” which also factored into the building’s selection. The building was run down, but was structurally sound, he added.
It has been a long road to opening day. He explained, “The licensing took almost a year and then the equipment took about five months to make and another couple months to install and get working.”
The brewing of the beer took a few months, too.
The Hennards hope the restaurant, which will have seating for about 85 people, will attract both locals and folks from the nearby hotels and other resources in town.
“But we do believe there is a following that will travel to micro breweries,” he told The Era a few months back. “With the pet-friendly patio we will have open, this will be a pleasant amenity for our locals.”
Also adding to the convenience of the business will be a parking lot with space for 25 vehicles that can be accessed from nearby Congress Place. A city parking lot across from the Old Post Office will also be available and is just a block away, he added.
