Hospitality & Entertainment Facilities

Cartridge Brewing, Kings Mill, Ohio

RETROFIT TEAM

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Furlong Building
PIPE INSTALLER: Nelson Stark

MATERIALS

Beginning a century ago, the Peters Cartridge Co. building was a factory that produced munitions for the U.S. military through the end of World War II. The Superfund site—abandoned and covered in graffiti, feral cats and running rampant with ghost stories—was cleaned up by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and developers got excited about what could be. Enter business partners Kyle Hackbarth and Anthony Cook, owners of Cartridge Brewing, an upscale brewpub that is now an anchor of the mixed-use redevelopment that will include apartments, a banquet hall, retail and more.

Because the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, there were some things that couldn’t be changed and had to be worked around. Floors were opened to place underground plumbing for the kitchen and bathrooms. Drains were installed for the brew deck, and Nelson Stark piped overhead water mains and gas lines for the brewpub, as well as lines for the kitchen equipment, furnaces, boiler and two domestic water heaters. Nelson Stark, is a dedicated Viega installer, so finding press fittings on the site is no surprise.

Plumbing work on the brewpub started in March 2020, when research and planning began for the cutting and drilling necessary. Underground work began in April, with overhead water mains in progress in May. By August, Nelson Stark was hooking up kitchen equipment.

For the natural-gas lines, Viega MegaPressG was used across the board, from 1/2- to 4-inch fittings. It was the first project Nelson Stark did with the larger-diameter MegaPressG fittings and, after borrowing a MegaPress PressBooster, the contractor has since purchased a couple of boosters for future needs.

Although much of the plumbing is hidden, the 3- and 4-inch gas-main lines in the brew area and service corridor are exposed.

PRESS FITTING TOOLS: Viega

THE RETROFIT

Long a popular destination, Peters Cartridge Co. is listed on multiple travel websites as an interesting site to observe—from afar. Today, the location, which is along a popular bike path, is open with
a 10,000-square-foot taproom and elevated pub-style food.

“Honoring the past, brewing the future” is brewery owner Hackbarth’s motto, and the brewery’s name, Cartridge Brewing, pays homage to the building’s original occupant.

PHOTO: Viega