MCEDP

Pinehurst Resort has announced their plans to open a new microbrewery and pub restaurant in late spring 2018.   They have already begun restoring the 7,000 square-foot historic steam plant building in the Village of Pinehurst, within walking distance of the center of the quaint historic Village and less than a mile from The Carolina Hotel.

The building housed a steam power plant that began operating on Dec. 31, 1895, just in time for The Holly Inn to provide electricity and steam heat when it opened its doors to its first guests that New Year’s Eve. For decades, the steam plant provided heat and electricity for the Village’s hotels, cottages, businesses and trolleys.

The old steam plant has sat unused since it was decommissioned in 1998. The old smokestack was torn down years ago because of safety concerns. Plans call for the return of the smokestack, which was a defining landscape feature of the original Village. The smokestack will be restored in relation to the scale of the renovation and may use the original base which still remains.

The Pinehurst Brewery will feature on-site brewing, comfortable indoor and outdoor seating, and meeting space.  Much of the original brick and façade will be used in the restoration to maintain the building’s character. New additions will include a covered terrace and outside dining area, a covered beer garden with an outside bar and restrooms, an event lawn on the west side of the property along Magnolia Road, and a kitchen storage facility. Plans also include a small smoke-greenhouse building on the east side of the brewery.

Nancy Fiorillo, Mayor of the Village of Pinehurst, said the steam plant renovation is a “wonderful economic development” project.  The Village hopes the brewery will bring new life and spur additional redevelopment to the outskirts of the historic center.

“We are so pleased the resort is moving forward with the steam plant project,” Fiorillo said. “Personally, I think it will be one more step in the revitalization of that area. The resort has really come through.”

Image courtesy of Pinehurst Resort