(Photo: submitted)
The Holy Whale Brewing Company has found a new home once the Chocolate River Station closes.
Co-Owner Jeff Grandy says they have purchased Parklane Bowling Centre on Biggs Drive in Riverview, “We currently have a brewery in Alma, that is pretty tourism focused, despite being open year-round. We needed to look beyond the summer months to keep things kind of normal. We had some help from Shane Thomson from the Town of Riverview. He pointed us to Parklane which came up for sale in the fall of 2020. We did some asking around. A lot of people had positive things to say about the space and the owners and that is when we started talking seriously and started the whole process.”
Grandy says their current lease expires at the end of the month, “We should know more in the next week or two what is actually going to happen, with regards to moving.”
He says once they move, they won’t reopen the Centre right away. They want to do some rebranding with more of a beer/bowling focus, “Right now, our intention is to keep it as a bowling alley. That’s an area that we have to learn and we are definitely going to work with the previous owners on learning the ropes and trying to get the hang of it. We’re hoping by mid-summer to get ready for the big bowling season, which we are learning is September, that is our goal right now. Hopefully by that time, things are more promising as far as movement of people and less COVID-19 restrictions. But we’re prepared for that, or if something does go sideways, we’re going to be prepared for that too.”
He says they will be making some changes, but mainly just aesthetics, “Right now, where we are located, we do a test batch system. We are contemplating whether to move that over and do our test batches there. It is going to be pretty much a similar layout. people won’t notice there is a test batch system set up. No big shiny tanks and all that stuff, but beer will be available. The more and more I look into it, I think it is the perfect drinking sport, and beer is the natural drink to have,” Grandy says.
The Chocolate River Station on Coverdale Road, where the Holy Whale Brewing Company is currently located, is expected to be torn down to make way for two twin apartment buildings.
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