Members of the Old Dover Neighborhood Association heard from National Development’s Ted Tye on Tuesday night regarding the brewery concept that surprised many in the neighborhood when it was unveiled in the press last week.
Being an alcohol license and a new use that will draw many customers, many in the Association had expected to be able to hear about it beforehand. That was especially true due to the fact that Tye had been at the previous month’s meeting and didn’t say a word.
Many in the Association felt very disappointed at being left out of the conversation, particularly after having just mended fences with the New York Streets area and National Development two months ago following a few years of separation.
Nancy Farrington, who said she liked the brewery concept in the Ink Underground park below the Expressway, asked why he didn’t give a head’s up.
“I did say something about the programming, but I did not specify that about the Beer Garden because we were working to finalize something on that,” he said. “As soon as that was finalized, which was after the meeting, we rolled it out.”
He said they do not have any licenses from the City for the beer garden, which will be operated by Castle Island Brewery of Norwood. They will open from Thursday to Sunday, May to October. They will serve beer, wine and seltzer.
President Ken Smith said they actually learned about it through the City advertising of the hearing.
A meeting at Ink Underground on the site will take place on April 25 at 6 p.m.
Adam Romanow, of Castle Island, said he is a South Boston resident and has operated the brewery for some time in Norwood.
He said he wants to create a community space and not a bar. The setup will be a place where families can come to relax, and beer would be purchased by those of age at a mobile tap trailer. The open air beer garden will contain beer-hall style tables, high tops and some all-weather bean bags. The space is located at the back of the new park closest to the channel.
“One thing we really wanted to do was not make it a bar, but a community space,” he said. “That’s something we’ve been able to do at our tap room in Norwood. Rather than a bar, it’s a place for community with arts, events, yoga and music. We have a lot of kids coming in with their parents, especially on Sunday mornings…When National Development approached us, we said we believed we could operate it like the tap-room concept and bring that to the City where there aren’t a lot of outdoor spaces for this…This is a place where all people of all ages can congregate.”