A brewery opening up a patio isn’t necessarily huge daily news, but we’ve followed the story of Bonfire Brewing’s new patio from the beginning and we dig its story of how a brewery can play a bigger part in the jurisdiction in which it resides — and how that civic service can pay off. We’ve already told the beginning of this story back in the fall:
In order for Bonfire Brewing to begin this project, Eagle’s Mayor and Town Board of Trustees had to approve Ordinance 30-2018 amending Chapter 9.28 of the Eagle Municipal Code Concerning Encroachments. This amendment allows Bonfire, a private entity, to “encroach” into small portions of Eagle’s public right of way, making the new patio the first thing that visitors see when they head into town on Highway 6. That’s pretty cool.
This partly came to pass because owner Andy Jessen sits on the city’s Board of Trustees:
“The amendment came about after discussing the patio concept with town staff over the course of the summer,” he told us. “Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the wrap-around outdoor space concept, and it probably would not have been worth doing at all. Originally, staff thought we could simply enter into an encroachment agreement, but it turned out the town didn’t have such a thing. Our new town manager — Brandy Reitter — had seen them in previous jobs, specifically Buena Vista, so she encouraged staff to write up enabling language. … I had to disclose that the amendment came about because of a project we were proposing, and it passed unanimously.”
Anyway, we’ve already said all of that. Today we share the culmination of all that politicking.
Opened the first week of February, the Bonfire Brewing patio features a renovation of the previous space along with a connecting addition on the west side of the tasting room. The patio expansion increases Bonfire’s customer area by over 700 sq ft. The western expansion features a garage door opening to the inside with additional bar seating lining both ends.
“Full utilization of our space, enhancing the entry to downtown Eagle, and hopefully bringing more people to town and our tasting room is a great accomplishment by our team, our construction partners and town staff,” Jessen said.
Bonfire Brewing is formulating plans for a party this coming spring to celebrate the grand opening of the new patio.
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