In July 2023, Fort George unveils a new space on the Fort George Block in Downtown Astoria dedicated to Merch and Beer To Go: LOVELL AUTO CO STORE – t
he newly renovated space adjacent to the Lovell Taproom also houses a row of 200 blue steel combination lockers, each with a silver plaque bearing the name of a beloved member of Fort George’s Lovell Auto Co (our first and only bottle club started in 2021).
Named for the auto showroom and repair shop that occupied our current Pub and Brewery buildings on Duane Street for over 60 years, Lovell Auto Co celebrates the history of our building and our region, the future of great beer, and the true friends and beer fans all over the Pacific Northwest who have their hearts in Astoria.
For the first 16 years of Fort George, the space adjacent to the Lovell Taproom was used mostly for storage. We called it The Blue Room, though it had not been primarily blue for a long time. From the massive old growth beams that form the ceiling, to the 18 foot tall bank of street-facing windows, the space was impressive, warm and full of light – even as a storage space. Prior to Fort George acquiring the building in 2009, the Blue Room was used primarily as offices for the auto service and repair shop. The space was filled with shelves and parts, a disused freight elevator at one end.
Not much in the room changed between the construction of the Lovell Taproom in 2010 and the first few months of 2023. The room was at its best during Fort George’s annual Festival of Dark Arts in February where for the last 5 years it housed the merch booth (appropriately) and several other vendor tables – a tarot reader, fresh coffee from Columbia River Coffee Roasters, beer paintings and wood carvings. Every year leading up to the fest, a team of brewers and servers would be tasked with shifting and organizing the last year’s worth of random stuff that accumulated in The Blue Room to make room for the festival: barrels, signs, stanchions, extra tables, speakers, merchandise back stock, pallets of crowler cans, broken things, spare parts, and usually a few big tubs of towels and floor mats.
The past two months saw big changes in the former storage space – pallets of beer and broken chairs vacated the old concrete floor and a fresh, shiny bank of blue lockers were erected – carefully leveled and braced on the uneven floor. Fort George and Crockett Carpentry updated and improved the space, adding new lighting, crisp new paint on the walls, and a row of beer coolers packed to the brim with all of Fort George’s latest releases, flagship favorites, exclusive bottles, collaboration projects and even a small stock of 1/6 barrel kegs for the discerning party host.
Almost all of the materials used in the build-out of the new space are reclaimed and repurposed. Long time friend of the Fort, Tim Kennedy, crafted the wall of shelves that faces Duane Street. Tim & Blind Moses Woodworking have led the renovation and restoration of multiple Fort George spaces, including the Showroom in the Lovell building and the two story Solarium project. The display unit, which stands on the south wall, is adapted from shelving that once held auto parts and tools in the original office space of the auto repair shop from the early 1950s. Opposite the wall of shelving, 200 bottle club lockers are clad in over 60 feet of wood paneling. The panels, now stripped, sanded and refinished, were originally a set of massive wood garage door panels salvaged from our waterfront facility, a former cannery, on Marine Drive. The service counter opposite the courtyard door, topped with another length of old shelving refinished by Tim & the Crockett’s, was removed from the Upstairs Pizzeria during a recent renovation that expanded the kitchen space. Behind the service counter, a huge barn door-style gate closes off a flight of stairs to the basement cellar where brewers store kegs and supplies. The blue bars on the gate were also salvaged from the waterfront property. Minimal black shelving throughout the remainder of the space preserves and highlights the original finishes of the room while light pours in from the wall of original windows. You’ll see a bright yellow open sign on Duane Street when the space is open.
Whether you stop in for a 4-pack of the latest small-batch seasonal release, a 1/6 barrel keg of Vortex for an event, a stack of rainbow discs for a day on the courses, a snuggly zip-up sweatshirt or some sweet sweet branded dog merch – or if you’re here to check your locker for your latest allotment – we’re ready and waiting for you in the Fort George Lovell Auto Co Store located right across from the Pub, and directly adjacent to the Lovell Taproom.
We are proud to be stewards of the historic Fort George buildings on Duane Street. We’re excited to welcome our community into another space on the block that we’ve respectfully filled with good beer and cool stuff. Lovell Auto Co: Merch & Beer To Go will let us send a little more Fort George home with all of our friends.
