WILMINGTON — The one year mark has come and gone since Hurricane Florence decimated what was planned to be the area’s first co-op brewery; the brewery was supposed to open a week or so after the storm struck southeastern North Carolina. After the storm, the owners behind the project raised thousands of dollars in a GoFundMe and repairs were soon underway — but it still hasn’t opened.
A new roof was installed and things appeared to be moving along — but looks can be deceiving. Since the brewery was built as a co-op, residents were able to purchase ‘shares’ in the company and be considered co-owners. But after the storm, information as to what exactly was going on with the brewery was limited.
In July, Port City Daily tried to reach the owners of Tidewater Brewing with the hopes of getting some answers for co-owners who reached out in the hopes of having their questions and concerns addressed — they were not.
Related: What’s the deal with Tidewater, Wilmington’s first co-op brewery? Nobody’s willing to say
However, there has been an update to the brewery’s status, albeit, a short and somewhat vague response. With nearly $10,000 raised in GoFundMe money, doners were wondering where exactly their money had gone and shareholders had similar questions.
Tidewater does not own the building at 1002 Princess Street and as such, has to work with their landlord to rebuild. There’s a problem with that though, the owner of the building was facing legal troubles for allegedly not paying contractors for work completed and had liens assessed against the property.
In April, the litigation against the property owners, Osprey Lands LLC. was voluntarily dismissed — for that property that is. The neighboring property where Tidewater was storing equipment had a nearly $200,000 lien assessed against it for similar issues.
After reaching out for comments and receiving almost no information, Tidewater did respond a few weeks later.
“We are providing an update on the status of Tidewater Brewing Company. Since Tidewater doesn’t own the 1002 Princess Street building, we are working with the landlord through the rebuilding process. Due to the extensive damage incurred, it has been a lengthy process and we don’t have a definitive timeline to share at this time. Tidewater Brewing Company will share additional updates in the future as they become available,” according to the company’s GoFundMe update.
So what happened to the money raised by those donations?
“The Go Fund Me donations raised to date have been put aside and are earmarked to assist with Tidewater’s rebuilding efforts. We appreciate your support and continued interest in the brewery. If you have any further questions, please contact us at tidewaterbrewingmedia@gmail.com,” the update concluded.
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