News

Potosi project gets lift

Brewery: Janesville-based foundation offers grant of $400,000 to help restore the historic landmark

By Craig Reber, Telegraph Staff Writer

POTOSI, Wis. — Potosi Brewery restoration efforts recently received a financial boost from a Janesville benefactor.

The Potosi Brewery Foundation signed an agreement for a $400,000 challenge grant from the Janesville-based Jeffris Family Foundation.

The Potosi foundation was formed in February 2000 with a goal to restore the historic landmark. The restoration project carries an estimated price tag of at least $1.2 million. Total project costs, including a museum, could exceed $3 million.

The Potosi Brewery Foundation has three years to match the Jeffris grant on a 3-1 basis. Potosi Brewery Foundation vice president Frank Fiorenza said the organization plans to apply for other grants in an effort to raise $1.2 million.

"This is supposed to be a springboard,' said Karla Kaiser, Potosi Brewery Foundation treasurer. "We are hoping it has a snowball effect for other grants. There is a lot of stuff out there. We just have to go find it."

The building, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, dates to 1852, with additions in 1916 and 1933. In 1933, the Potosi Brewery was one of 79 operating in Wisconsin; it made beer until 1972. During its heyday, the brewery was Potosi's largest employer and the Potosi brand was well-known.

Progress has been steady in restoring the front of the building. The goal is to create a microbrewery, restaurant and museum. An engineer's report showed that the building's shell, built with heavy rock and inn walls, remains solid.

The Jeffris Family Foundation, established in 1979, averages $1 million per year in grants to small-town restoration projects, most of them in Wisconsin. Prairie du Chien's Villa Louis is a foundation beneficiary.

Epic Construction, of Dubuque, is the general contractor for the brewery restoration project. Epic will oversee the demolition and rebuilding process.

Demolition of two structures in the back of the building is expected to begin in December. They are not part of the restoration effort. Fiorenza explained the two structures, built in the 1930s, are in bad condition and it would be cost-prohibitive to restore them.

In September, the Potosi Brewery Foundation conducted an appreciation day in honor of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Potosi Brewery.

The second annual Potosi Brewery Banquet will be held February 3 at Sunset Hall in Dickeyville. Organizers say a dinner and auction again will be part of the program. People who purchased tickets for the inaugural banquet will have first rights on tickets for 2003. The inaugural benefit netted more than $60,000.

"We appreciate the support of the local and surrounding communities," Kaiser, said. "I hope support for the upcoming banquet is just as strong."

© 2002 The Telegraph Herald