91视频

An unusual adaptive reuse project is under way in Northeast Portland: a 112-year-old former church is being transformed into a brewery.

Steeplejack Brewing Co. owners Brody Day and Dustin Harder had sought to start a brewery since college. Instead of taking the 鈥渆asy route鈥� of opening in a warehouse, Day said he sought space that could signify community. The former church at 2400 N.E. Broadway was a natural choice, he added.

The duo enlisted Open Concept Architecture and Swinerton to help turn their business dreams into reality. But renovating a building erected in 1909 (then-President William Howard Taft placed the building’s cornerstone during a visit to Portland, according to a snippet on the Steeplejack Brewing website) to be able to accommodate industrial equipment and modern-day mechanical systems has come with challenges.

鈥淓very element was ever so slightly out of compliance,鈥� architect Rebecca Morello said.

From the outset, Day and Harder were committed to salvaging as much of the building as possible. Other than a few patches of dry rot on the roof and water leaks from some cracked ceiling beams, the structure wasn’t in terrible condition. Any salvageable wood is being reused as tables for the brewery.

鈥淭ime-consuming and lots of work, but we wanted a flagship building to stand apart and be a part of the community,鈥� Day said.

The brewery’s design mainly focuses on revealing the building’s abundant character. For example, the curved, wooden trusses that warp across the ceiling continually draw visitors’ eyes. Also, light pours in through a large stained glass window.

At the front of the space will be a tank farm sunken about four feet below the main floor with a white oak bar above. There, people will be able to watch brewing operations and even interact with staffers. Directly opposite the tank farm, in the back, will be the main, horseshoe-shaped bar with stools alongside. Stretched out in the middle will be long community tables.

All of those elements will form the heart of the taproom, Morello said.

Along the main room’s outskirts will be smaller rooms, each with unique character and ambience. One room will be a private dining area with a long table and a refurbished fireplace. Another will be a television room, and another will have leather sofas and chairs along with a refurbished fireplace.

In addition to being able to view brewing operations at the front, patrons will be able to see mash being made in the mill room via floor-to-ceiling windows on the side of the main room.

鈥淲e wanted to create an atmosphere of curiosity and discovery,鈥� Morello said.

Day convinced stained glass artist David Schlicker, who created the large replacement window after the original was destroyed in a fire in the 1980s, to come out of retirement and make smaller, square stained glass panels for the rest of the main room’s windows.

鈥淚t’s a little bit overwhelming in how this is all going to come together in the end,鈥� Morello said.

Swinerton was hired late last summer to execute this complicated project. Construction began in February and is slated to finish in mid-summer. Along the way, Day said, workers have discovered lots of little surprises.

鈥淐onstruction practices back then to now is vastly different,鈥� Swinerton superintendent Ben Hoover said. 鈥淭hey didn’t have structural concrete footing, so the building is just sitting on the dirt.鈥�

Another surprise was that the sewage line was connected to the brick building next door lower downstream. The whole system had to be dug up and built anew.

Also, a chimney in the basement was found constructed horizontally underground so that smoke was released off the side. Crews had to remove the chimney, Hoover said.

All cracked ceiling beams are being replaced. The new ones weigh roughly 12,000 pounds each, so a number of people are teaming up to lift and install them.

Initially, the basement bathrooms were thought to be OK. However, the installation of completely new plumbing and electrical systems meant the bathrooms had to be gutted.

鈥淣ot easy transforming a church into a brewery,鈥� Day said.