News

POTOSI, Wis. - The 35-foot section of Potosi Brewery's 150-year-old limestone front wall that was disassembled last fall to repair an outward bulge is being reconstructed by masons, who are meticulously puzzling the stones back into place by consulting hand-drawn maps and photographs Of the Original wall.

The wall's renovation is the genesis of an ambitious $1.2 million undertaking by the Potosi Brewery Foundation, Inc., a local nonprofit group, to reestablish the building as a beer-producing facility, and to add a restaurant and museum.

Although the entire project isn't expected to be completed for four or five years, depending on finances, the foundation's vice-president, Frank Fiorenza, said the initial step, the wall's reconstruction, is on schedule and budget.

"I do think that things have gone far more successfully than we had envisioned," Fiorenza said, alluding to the community's strong financial support of the project, including a banquet last February that raised nearly $90,000.

The wall's renovation, at a cost of $24,000, needs to be completed before a roof, the second phase of the project, can be built over the brewery's front section. The brewery is, made-up of various interconnected buildings; its rear section was built about halfway through its existence in the 1930s, and is not included for renovation in the project.

The roof, which Fiorenza expects will be completed this summer, will cost the foundation between $45,000 and $59,000, depending on whether a volunteer workforce or a hired contractor is employed, Fiorenza said. The foundation's board, made up of 15 members, is expected to consider the roof's construction at its monthly meeting in June.

Earl Thompson, the Galena, Il. based mason handling the wall resurrection along with his three-man crew, is rebuilding the thick stone wall using colored mortar, made to mimic the stuff that was used during the building's original construction in 1852. The mortar being used, Thompson explained from his elevated position on 14-foot-high scaffolding, "starts out really light, and as it ages it turns tan."

According to Fiorenza, due to less scrutinized work performed on the mortar in various sections of wall earlier in the century, the newly rebuilt section will closer resemble the architects' original scheme than much of the building's other walls,

"This new section," Fiorenza said," while it doesn't exactly match the old section, is actually more historically accurate than what is presently there."

To celebrate the brewery's antiquity, and to accrue funding for the project, the foundation has planned a bevy of small fundraisers: Garden Tour of Homes, June 29; Catfish Festival, Aug. 10, 11; and a brat sale at the Prairie du Chien Cabelas, July 27, 28.

However, the "big event," the brewery's 150-year anniversary, will be held Sept. 14 at the brewery, Fiorenza said.

The celebration will mimic the brewery's 100-year anniversary gala held in 1952, 20 years before it closed. The foundation is planning to give away door prizes, and sell commemorative brewery items, including 1,500 six-packs of specially brewed Potosi beer adorned with sesquicentennial labels. The beer will be brewed by a local microbrewery, and proceeds will be applied to the brewery's renovation. The public is invited.

In addition to public fundraisers, the foundation is due to receive a state grant for $120,000. To accrue the cash, the foundation must raise an equal amount; something that Fiorenza speculates has already been accomplished. "My personal perception is we already raised it," Fiorenza said.

Though garnering the grant acts as a benchmark of the public's support for the project, Fiorenza alluded that the foundation still has a long way to go in order to see the project completed.

"How do you eat an elephant,' he asked, referring metaphorically to the immense renovation project. "Well you take one bite at a time. We're taking one bite at a time."