USA, NY: New Lockport brewery plans move forward albeit with name change

Matthew Martin and his brother CJ are continuing with their plans for opening a brewery at 13 W. Main St in the City of Lockport. Once completed, the brewery will also host a restaurant and gaming attractions that will include shuffleboard and bocce, the Yahoo News reported on October 29.

The business was originally to be called Barrier West Brewing, however, they were recently advised to choose a different name due to it being too similar to the name of another business in New York City. Martin said that they will be deciding on a new official name by next week, and it will likely have a Lockport theme to it.

"We want to have it connected with Lockport," Martin said. "We want to have it related in some way, shape, or form with our hometown. We're just working through some options for it right now."

At present, the Martins have finished demolishing and gutting the entirety of the building's interior. Martin said that he and his brother are now searching for a construction manager who will build the new interior. That work will likely begin in early December.

"Everything's been gutted out," Martin said. "Now it's just putting everything back together on the inside, and building it out to fit the space."

Plans for the exterior involve structural repairs and the possible painting of a mural on the side of the building. Martin said that they are going to focus on keeping the building's exterior relatively the same to what it's historically been.

"There will be some modifications to the facade." he said. "But we're going to keep the historical guidelines of what's there, so any changes won't be too significant to the exterior."

Martins says the brewery's opening is not tentatively expected to be next Oct. 1, back from an early 2023 date.

"A lot of things have been behind schedule for the contractors," Martin said. "That affects putting the pieces together for a larger project like this in that it just gets delayed for a bit."

Martin also said that the cost of the project has gone up from about $3 million to about $3.8 million.

Martin added, "That's unfortunately been the thing for everyone though."

The Martins were given a 10-year PILOT agreement, a sales tax abatement on construction, and a mortgage recording tax abatement by the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency in April. Upon completion the business is expected to create 40 to 60 brewing, restaurant serving, and management jobs in full- and part-time positions.

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