Watermark Brewing Co. in Stevensville, MI, announced plans to renovate an 11,000-square-foot space adjacent to its current brewery and taproom to focus on special events, including private parties, weddings and more.
The addition, called the Watermark Solarium, is slated to open in the spring of 2020 and is booking events now.
Here is a press release from the brewery with more details:
STEVENSVILLE, Michigan – Since opening in 2016, Watermark Brewing Company has been approached regularly to host wedding receptions and other private events inside what is established as it is current taproom and beer garden. Not wanting to turn away regular business and remain a go-to spot for locals, Watermark Brewing Company has doubled down on Stevensville by renovating an 11,000sf warehouse adjacent to the brewery and turned it into a private venue experience. The venue is currently booking events for 2020 and plans to be officially open in the spring of 2020 and referred to as “Watermark Solarium”.
The Solarium will be able to host up to 250 guests at a single event and house Watermark’s nano distilling operation. The venue will include a commissary kitchen to be used by food caterers, offer a fully functional climate control capabilities, provide transportation for guests and serve Watermark’s wide variety of adult beverage options including cocktails. The vibe of the Solarium will have an array of live plants, natural light, along with an array of wooden barrels aging both spirits and beer.
Watermark has hired on Nicole Crawford who has a lot of experience curating stunning looking events during her time as an independent photographer. Nicole’s role is to help facilitate the planning and details leading up to the day of a client’s event as the event coordinator. Ali Brodhacker was promoted internally at Watermark as the beverage coordinator aka “The Queen of Quench” to help clients choose the libations that will best suit their event at the Solarium. Ali will help clients select what beer, wine, cider and cocktail they will like to enjoy at their event.
“Since we opened in 2016 we have constantly been approached by a number of patrons to close down on a Saturday so that someone could have a wedding reception or charity event in our taproom, so that is why we have decided to expand our operation with the addition of the Solarium,” said Chris Mason, Co-Founder of Watermark Brewing Company.
What was formerly a beer distribution warehouse will now house Watermark’s nano distilling operation and barrel aging program. In addition to facilitating weddings, the venue will offer space for large scale charity events, corporate events, private mug club parties and unique food pairing dinners.
“We have assembled a solid team and concept to help facilitate the best possible party of client’s entire life, as we are beyond excited to offer such a unique venue unlike anything else in the region. Southwest Michigan has become a destination for wedding venues and breweries, so we had the idea to crossover the two. We have positioned the Solarium as a venue that includes all of the amenities that you may not necessarily think about prior to hosting an event or wedding. We identified that some of the outdoor venues or barns lack climate control, standard bathroom accommodations and are located relatively far away from lodging. When we designed the Solarium we made sure to create a space where all guests will feel as comfortable as possible and take all the stress off the event hosts,” said Chris Mason.
Co-Founder of Watermark Justin Schaul has done an incredible job adopting into his role as the General Contractor on this project and building out the entire space with a small team a very limited budget. Co-Founder David Cockell will continue to oversee all brewing operations along with developing the distilling program, Co-Founder Chris Mason will continue to handle all business operations and Justin Koehneke will remain taproom manager of the brewery’s taproom.
“We would not be able to pursue this project without the constant dependability of our current employees that has been with us since we opened, along with the addition of Nicole and Ali joining us to help manage the Solarium. We would also like to thank Honor Credit Union for financing our expansion project, Cornerstone Alliance for helping us secure a property tax abatement and the Village of Stevensville for being so supportive of all the small business developments in our community,” said Chris Mason.
Watermark Solarium anticipates to be fully operational this upcoming spring and already is booking events as early as May.
To book your event and find more details go to watermarksolarium.com.
