May 14, 2018
Adam Stanley, The Globe and Mail
The building used to be painted an undesirable mustard-yellow. Now it’s known more for the golden ales and lagers poured inside.
In Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood, about 10 minutes south of Parliament Hill, Flora Hall Brewing – a craft brewpub serving up nine styles of beer and a menu of shareable snacks – has opened its doors to residents to much fanfare. In just a few months, more than 15,000 customers have imbibed.
Much of the charm of the community brewery is thanks to the changes to its 90-year-old building, and Flora Hall is one example of craft breweries across Canada taking on mid-century structures and turning them into modern spaces for food and drink.
He transformed the space by adding a separate area for brewing, a commercial kitchen, and two floors of drinking and eating space. He was pleasantly surprised during renovations to discover hardwood floors in the upper level of the hall – a memento from the original Welch and Johnston business. He kept them.
There were constraints in renovating the heritage structure, however.