Dunrobin Distilleries is turning rubble into whisky.
The craft distillery is looking to move into Stittsville, by building a new facility on Stittsville Main Street.
On Monday, heavy machinery brought down an 80-year-old building.
“It was very dramatic, the whole building coming down,” Mark Watson of Dunrobin Distilleries told CTV News Ottawa. “It took five minutes to come down, but it took two and half years of paperwork.”
The distillery currently has two locations, one in Dunrobin, and one in Vankleek Hill. Watson says the new distillery in Stittsville will be a “destination” location.
“It’s going to have a barrel storage room in the cellar, then we’re going to have two floors with all kinds of distillery equipment, a showroom - a tasting room, it’s going to be a great destination.”
Dunrobin Distilleries attempted to salvage the existing building, but Watson says it was beyond saving; however, they will re-use some of the materials, like barn boards and tin in the new construction.
The building was once a gas station and Watson says it was once fit for rock-and-roll royalty.
“This location has a really colourful history,” he says. “Elvis Presley, in 1957, stopped by to fill up with his pink Cadillac.”
Area councillor Glen Gower says many of the new businesses on Stittsville Main Street tend to be “small, locally-owned independent businesses,” and adds that the future distillery is, “exactly the kind of business - you know, a unique, bit of a different business - a destination type of business.”
Watson says he’s hopeful to open for Christmas.
