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Albeit on a much smaller scale, the transformation of the old Molson Brewery site is a neighbourhood-changing development in the same way the ICE District is. Taking a once-bustling centre for employment and converting it into a hub for commercial retail, the Brewery District regenerates a historic Oliver property and turns it over for use by the public.
Built by former mayor of Strathcona William Henry Sheppard in 1913, the brewery sported a design by Chicago architect Bernard Barthel that was emblematic of the German castles from the architect's home country. Molson acquired the brewery in 1958 and built a log fort-like structure in front, naming it Molson House. Functioning as a hospitality lounge, the building was eventually purchased by an Edmonton family and relocated off the site in 2011.
Molson controversially shuttered the brewery in August 2007 in the wake of a persistent worker's strike, laying off over one hundred people. The main tower has remained vacant in the decade since the company's abandonment. The iconic sign surmounting the building was recently removed from its longtime perch, with a smaller replica meant to take its spot. Sun Life and First Capital Realty are embarking on a $8.4 million heritage restoration set to be finished by next spring, when a new Molson micro-brewery and supplementary office space will take over the interior.
The new mixed-use Brewery District retains many of the historically significant remnants of the old plant, and replicates its brick veneer in new structures scattered across the landscape. Goodlife Fitness, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaw's City Market, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and a range of other retailers now call the reinvigorated site home.
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