Delays on tap for brew pub

CHILLICOTHE - Simply from his day-to-day interactions with others, Ben Daughters knows people are interested in how close the opening of The Pour House at Machinery Hall may be.

"I get asked five times a day: 'When's it happening?' " Daughters said. "I guess the thing I want to convey to people is this is still happening. It hasn't happened on the timeline that we thought, but it's happening."

In late March, Daughters announced plans for a new restaurant and brew pub directly to the west of the Majestic Theatre courtyard on East Second Street. The 6,000-square-foot building constructed in 1881 is being converted into a 120-seat restaurant and pub that will feature live music, classic American dining fare and around 30 craft draft beers.

The original plan had been for an opening sometime over the summer. As work began to prepare the 135-year-old building for its latest incarnation, however, some structural issues came to light that have resulted in delays.

"Specifically, there's a support beam that holds up the second floor that's kind of rotted and twisted and bowing that's going to have to come out and be replaced," Daughters said. "The whole back 100 feet of the building, which at one point was an addition to the building, the roof structure in there all needs to be torn out and replaced with a new roof that will be capable of supporting the various kitchen equipment and the hood and all that additional weight.

"The building's 135 years old, so nobody walked into this thinking that everything was going to be in pristine condition, but the further we've gotten into it, the more things like this have popped up. Essentially, what it's led to is trying to weigh the cost factor of it. We had kind of the initial plan of what we thought we were going to do to go in and fix the things, but what it's forced us to do because of cost factors, we brought a couple different engineers in to give opinions, we've had different contractors look at it to try and come up with the best solution economically as well as structurally."

That's not to say everything has been on hold. Shortly after the announcement in the spring, a great deal of interior demolition work was done to peel back the walls and see what was there. What they discovered was the original brick had been covered by a layer of plaster and a layer of drywall. Once the plaster and drywall were removed, the bricks — which were still in good shape — were sandblasted to help restore their original look.

"So, right now, those bricks are good to go, and that will be kind of what frames the interior walls of the first half of the building, which will be where the dining room and that sort of thing is," Daughters said.

Not much more can be done until the structural issues are resolved, he added.

Daughters said that other than the delay in opening, there are no other changes to the original plan in terms of how the business will operate or be staffed or in what services and amenities it will offer. What this summer's experience has shown him, however, is that as a process like this moves forward, you're never entirely sure what situations may arise. As a result, he is hesitant to predict exactly when the business may be ready to open.

"We're not going to look past something and then a year down the road figure out that now we have a major issue we now have to address," he said. "If anything, we're trying to take a methodical approach to do it right from the start."

The Pour House is among the types of businesses being seen as a step toward creating a downtown entertainment district in the East Second Street area. The Majestic Theatre has seen $750,000 for renovations and expansion included in the next biennium capital budget proposal, and advertisements are posted in the windows of a structure across the street from The Pour House declaring the availability of restaurant space with a courtyard for an interested entrepreneur to consider.