By Lauren Young
Staff writer
The historic Farr Brother Building in downtown Canastota may soon evolve into a new tourist hot spot, as owners of the Seneca Street Brew Pub in Manlius recently bought the property with plans to move its Canastota brewhouse and tap room into the space and transform it into a full-scale brewhouse and restaurant, with planning starting in 2019.
Bob and Joyce Menikheim, owners of the Seneca Street Brew Pub and the Erie Canal Brewery in Canastota, recently purchased the brick Farr Brother Building at 102 South Peterboro St. in Canastota and plan to renovate it into a massive “New York-themed eatery,” even including a space for a Village of Canastota Visitor Information Center featuring historic canal photos, said Bob Menikheim, who operates the business with his wife Joyce and brewmasters Brooke (daughter) and Heidi (daughter-in-law).
Once Erie Canal Brewing, its brewhouse at 135 James St. in Canastota, and the Erie Canal Brewing Tap Room at 135 S. Peterboro St. a block from the site, move into one location, the tap room will close, he said.
Because the current brewhouse is near an industrial site, Menikheim said the location “wasn’t conductive to having a tasting room,” which prompted the business to reimagine a better layout.
“We knew the long-term goal was to combine them into one location,” he said.
In addition to offering its own beer, the eatery will serve other New York-brewed beer, wines and spirits, plus a New York-inspired food menu featuring state-grown ingredients, said Menikheim.
The business is currently negotiating with several local eateries that have reached out about being subcontracted to provide its food menu, he said, which would give the brewery a chance to focus on its beer.
The Menikheims submitted this project to the state’s Reimagine the Canals competition, which aims to reinvigorate canal sites to promote tourism, because it “put down in words what we wanted to do,” said Menikheim. The entire Canastota-centered project, called the Canalside Pocket Neighborhoods project, was selected as one of its winners, and will bring the aging Farr Brother building back to life as an “asset instead of a liability,” he said.
This project, which consists of “pocket neighborhoods” or clusters of small homes along the canal, is planned about a block from the Farr Brother building, said Menikheim. The structure, “an iconic building that goes back to the heydays of the Erie Canal,” was originally owned by The Farr Bros. Hardware Co., opening in 1879 but closing in the 1980s. In recent years, it was owned by Oneida Healthcare Laboratory Services.
While riddled with history, aging structures like this one also come riddled with problems.
Moving Seneca Street Brewery into the old First Baptist Church of Manlius built in 1829, for example, took around two and a half years to open, said Menikheim, and will probably take the same amount of time to bring this Canastota creation to life.
“When you get into these old buildings, you have problems you can’t imagine,” he said. “We’re taking our time and doing it right — we want to make this is a destination, not just a location.”
According to Mayor Carla DeShaw of Canastota, project planning will start in 2019.
“Thank you to Bob, Joyce, Brooke and Heidi Menikheim for continuing to invest in our community,” said DeShaw in a public Facebook post. “We are proud to have one of the best, medal award-winning breweries in the state call Canastota home.”
To learn more about Seneca Street Brewery, visit its website at Senecastreetbrewpub.com or visit its Facebook page at “Seneca Street Brew Pub & Bottle Shop.”
