CANTON, Ohio – The Hall of Fame Village is adding The Brew Kettle to its planned entertainment complex at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And for brewery owner Chris Russo, it’s a perfect fit.
“I’m really excited about it,” said Russo, who said he expected to take occupancy approximately in December and have a target operating date of end of first quarter-beginning of second quarter 2022.
The brewery is partnering with TopGolf on the 6,400-square foot brewpub and a 4,000-square-foot patio overlooking Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. TopGolf, which has an interactive driving-range entertainment-golf complex at the southeast corner of Interstates 77 and 480, won’t have a full driving range in Canton but will include six TopGolf simulator booths. The brewery will operate the simulators.
(There’s something about Northeast Ohio craft beer and the Dallas-based TopGolf; Saucy Brew Works is planning a 26,000 square-foot location that will include a brewery, pub, event space and outdoor area adject to the golf complex in Independence off of Rockside Road.)
“It’s a really exciting space to be in,” Russo said.
Russo said an overall “great partnership” drew him to the Canton project for multiple reasons: The area, an upcoming waterpark, and the area fields where his kids have played all are attractive. And then there’s the vantage itself.
“I think honestly we have one of the best views of the stadium,” he said.
The Hall of Fame Village project aims to position the entire complex as an entertainment draw for the area. Concerts are being planned for the stadium, which also holds Enshrinement Week activities for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well as the annual Black College Classic Hall of Fame game. And the hall of fame itself also attracts visitors to its exhibits year-round.
The Brew Kettle-TopGolf project is part of the initial phase; a hotel and adjacent waterpark are in the second phase.
The 26-year-old Brew Kettle has been strategic about its expansion, with brewpubs in Strongsville, Amherst, Hudson and Mentor – the latter opening a year ago. Its main production facility sits on Sheldon Road in Middleburg Heights in the former Fat Head’s location. The Strongsville location maintains the original concept, a brew-on-site facility that allows folks to come in and brew a beer of their choice, then return weeks later for bottling.
Similar to other ventures the brewery did with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cedar Point, the brewery will be making a beer for the Hall of Fame Village. In 2015, The Brew Kettle released All For One, a limited-release session India Pale Ale with the Cavs. That year, the brewery also released Rougabrew, a Munich-style Helles Lager and a hat tip to Rougarou, a roller coaster at Cedar Point.
“It’s a natural tie-in for us to do something for them,” Russo said about the Hall of Fame Village.
A rep from the Hall of Fame Village could not be reached for comment.
Completion of the overall $900 million, 120-acre village is not expected until 2023 or later. And much of the area is a construction zone. But Russo remains eager to bring his brewery to Stark County.
“I think it will be really good for The Brew Kettle, I think it will be really good for the area,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. And like I have said, we’re trying to be very smart about how we expand and what we do, but this really fits into our plans.”
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I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 7 a.m. Wednesdays for “Beer with Bona and Much, Much More” with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler. Twitter: @mbona30.
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