More Beer, No Demo

Last fall, the Planning Board granted site plan approval and the Historic Preservation Commission gave a certificate of appropriateness to the plan to convert 716-718 Union Street into a microbrewery. 

The people proposing the project were the same folks who initially wanted to establish a craft brewery at 735 Columbia Street, to be called the Columbia Filling Station, but reportedly gave it up because the task of remediating the site seemed too onerous.

Work at the Union Street site began a couple of weeks ago, and what was happening looked more like the beginning of a demolition than a restoration.

Things looked even more dire yesterday when these photos were taken.

An inquiry to Craig Haigh, code enforcement officer, brought this reassurance, which I pass along to all my readers who have expressed concern: "They are not demoing the building. They are replacing the wall which will be in compliance [with] all their approvals." 

In 1878, Franklin Ellis commented in his History of Columbia County: "Brewing was also, and has continued to this day, a successful industry in Hudson." (Distilling was the industry mentioned just prior to this.) With one well-established microbrewery, Hudson Brewing Company, already here, and three more on the way, Hudson is returning to its glory days.

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