A former Oregon’s fire station building on Seaman Road may soon be getting a new life when a Waterville brewery opens a second location.
“With approvals from the Oregon City Council yesterday evening the excitement is building… our work begins,” Buffalo Rock Brewing Co. wrote Tuesday on its Facebook page. “We have some renovation work moving forward… we will be adding bathrooms, building out a tap room, coolers, and of course the brewery system.”
Troy Burns, the firm’s co-founder, said the note refers to a special use exemption approved Monday by the city council. The land where the building sits at 5002 Seaman Rd. was originally zoned as part of a low-density zoned residential district. The former station 41 moved to a new location in November.
The city council decision came after the brewery signed a 12-month “lease to own” with the building’s owner, Oregon on the Bay Regional Economic Development Foundation.
The need to expand comes primarily from the limiting parking at the brewery’s Waterville’s location, which opened two years ago at 345 Anthony Wayne Trail, which has 29 parking spots while the Oregon location is expected to have between 50 and 55, Mr. Burns said.
The other reason is that the brewery is doing fine financially and would like to expand its customer base, which includes individuals and restaurants.
The beer the brewery makes is “a little bit of everything – anything from blond ales to IPA,” Mr. Burns said, adding that the company doesn’t brew any sour beers because it would involve a special kind of bacteria with a high risk of cross-contamination to other beer types.
The brewery locations – both in Waterville and in Oregon – were chosen because there aren’t any other breweries nearby and because both buildings are old and needed restorative work, something the brewery’s co-owners like doing because such buildings have sentimental value to local dwellers, Mr. Burns said.
The brewery’s Waterville building is a transformed six-bay garage while the Oregon building is a landmark built in 1941.
Brad Stevenson, a Buffalo Rock Brewing self-described regular customer, said he is happy the old Oregon fire station is getting a new life. He used to live nearby as a child and had walked by the old fire station “a million times” on his way to and from school, he explained.
“They are focused on the family,” Mr. Stevenson said of the brewery. “They only have one TV and they have local musicians come and play, and that creates the atmosphere that everybody comes to love at Waterville.
“We meet people there and we become friends. We go to their houses and have barbecues together. … I think a lot of the original members at the Waterville location would want to go over to the new location and get that same vibe.”
Mr. Burns said he expects the Oregon location to open in six to nine months.
First Published June 14, 2023, 7:45 p.m.
