Storm King Distilling owner David Fishering expects the Potato Growers Building to be complete by late this summer, in August or September.

To date, $4 million has gone into Storm King Distilling and the Potato Growers Building, and the project is nearing completion.

When complete, Fishering says the building, which is on the National Historic Registry, will house the distillery’s bar and tasting room, as well as three food vendors.

Local food trailer Sushi on the Roll will likely house one of the vendor spaces within. Also included will be an ice cream and coffee shop, and a charcuterie business.

On Wednesday, workers made progress on the building’s parking lot, and pieces of the interior were being put together.

“We’re putting sheetrock in there, and most of the plumbing is done,” Fishering said. “We still have to paint and do all the finishes, like wood trim and the actual bar — things like that. They don’t seem like much, but that stuff takes some time.”

Once the building is finished, the current distillery, which shares a parking lot with the Potato Growers Building, will act solely as distilling space.

As part of the work, Fishering is asking for $400,000 in funds from the city to offset some of the cost.

Montrose Potato Growers Building. (Justin Tubbs | MBT)

“There were other developers in the past that looked at the property. Most of them planned to tear it down,” Fishering said. “We said we’re not going to tear it down, but we’ve got plenty of risk on our end and we would like the city to help us out as much as possible.”

In 2017, Fishering sought some sort of commitment from the city to help out when the time comes. He said the time has come now.

There were no utilities in the building in 2017, and the structure was well beyond a state of disrepair. They have replaced the sewer line, which is connected to four other properties in the area.

Much of that $400,000 would be to recoup the cost of replacing those sewer lines, Fishering said.

“The big thing is that we’re asking help from the city, but we’re also doing these upgrades to one of the most iconic buildings downtown,” he said.

Part of the $4 million the distillery has invested to date came from a History Colorado grant. As agreed as part of the grant, the Fisherings have had to renovate the building in a way that maintains the historical integrity of the building.

That’s why none of the food vendors supply “hot foods,” for example. There weren’t originally hookups for a kitchen in the building.

Fishering said they don’t have plans for more occupants in the building  other than the three he mentioned, but that could change in the future.

“We have to wait and see how we use the space and how everything else gets used,” he said. “The initial group of businesses is the baseline we want, and we will see if we end up wanting more, or using it for events, or we might have some other spaces for retail type things.”

For more on the history of the building and the registration as an historic building, visit here.

Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.