The first time John Kinnaird lived on West Main Street in Thurmont, more than 60 years ago, there were more businesses downtown than he could count on two hands.
He remembers walking out the front door of the apartment where he lived with his family and finding people strolling Main Street until 8:30 or 9 p.m.
A lot has changed since then. The proliferation of shopping malls in the 1980s made it hard for small towns like Thurmont to hold on to retail stores.
Main Street is now lined with service businesses that only have daytime hours, like hair salons and doctor’s offices. When Kinnaird, the mayor, drives past Thurmont Square Park at 5 p.m. on a Saturday, everything is closed.
“It dismays me, for lack of a better word,” Kinnaird said at the town meeting on Tuesday. “It just is not a downtown that I want to see.”
But a recent partnership between the town and a local business owner to bring a brewery to East Main Street has given Thurmont officials a reason to feel hopeful about the downtown.
About a year ago, Scott Austin — a New Market resident who owns Structural Building Solutions and Hobbs’ Lumber and Hardware, both in Thurmont — approached the town about the long-vacant building at 6 E. Main St.
Constructed in 1890, according to state property records, the structure housed a tavern and beer joint when Kinnaird was growing up. It’s been empty for at least 15 years, and is an eyesore, the mayor said.
Still, Austin saw the property’s potential. He and the town came up with a deal: If the Board of Commissioners bought the building, he’d lease it from the town and turn it into a brewery.
Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation records list the sale price as $75,000 and the transfer happening on April 1.
Vickie Grinder, the town’s economic development manager, said a grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development covered the entire cost of the purchase.
Austin, who plans to finish the project within a year, has his work cut out for him, Grinder said. The building is in rough shape, and securing the permits he’ll need for the business will be time-consuming.
“I’m not gonna get rich off this, I promise,” Austin told the commissioners at the town meeting on Tuesday. “But I do think it’s a building block for something that could be bigger.”
He thinks Thurmont could create a brewery atmosphere similar to the one in downtown Frederick. When people visit Carroll Creek, they often hop around to multiple breweries in one night, Austin said.
The town recently changed its zoning rules to allow microbreweries in general business zoning districts. Bollinger’s Restaurant, which has been open for more than a decade, is also planning to add a brewery.
If the East Main Street brewery is successful, Austin said he might move it to the expansive Hobbs’ Hardware and Lumber building, across the street, and open the hardware store elsewhere.
“That’s the honey pot right there,” he said of Hobbs’.
Kinnaird and Grinder also have high hopes. They’ve been searching for a business anchor in the downtown area for years. Having a brewery open in Thurmont will be a big step for bringing life back to the town “after hours,” Kinnaird said.
The project’s supporters also say it will bring a younger crowd to town, and generate foot traffic to make Thurmont more attractive for other kinds of businesses, like restaurants, coffee shops and bookstores.
It won’t happen overnight, Grinder said, but the partnership with Austin also didn’t happen overnight.
“We waited a long time, and it only takes one spark,” Grinder said of bringing business to downtown Thurmont.
Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier
(35) comments
Two doors down from the Thurmont Bar & Grill, I wonder how the owners there feel about this. They have food, a limited selection of good beers, but no liquor. My question is what kind of beer is this new brewery going to produce; standard lagers, ales, etc., or more of that "craft beer" garbage? My guess is the latter, no thanks. The Legion here in town has great food and a happy hour where I can get a Coors Light, a Heineken, and a double shot of Tullamore Dew for $8.00, total. I believe we'll be sticking with them.
I would think they would welcome the neighbor. Bars & Restaurants tend to do better when in a cluster rather then stand alone.
Not necessarily. There are only two bars in town; the other one being in the Mexican restaurant the used to be the Pizza Hut. Bollingers has a "bar" but it only seats a few people and I don't believe they serve liquor. And his beer selection sucks. The Kountry Kitchen serves both beer and liquor, but has no bar, they're primarily just a restaurant. So, the fewer the bars, the more customers for the bars we do have.The only others are the American Legion and the Amvets, each a private club. While I have membership to both, we usually go to the Legion. Better employees, better prices, and the Amvets has gone downhill ever since their kitchen closed.
We need a place like this where we won’t run into you seedy. I grew up in a town with 21 taverns in a 3 block area and they l did fine. You like capitalism…maybe your favorite bar need to do something to stay competitive. I’d pay more at a place I know I won’t have to see you.
Maybe my favorite bar needs to do something to stay competitive? What are you babbling about, you pitiful low life? Maybe you should sober up and try to read the course of the conversation again. Or get some kid in elementary school to explain it to you. Regardless, no one wants a POS like you in Thurmont so just stay out of town and you won't have to pay more not to see me. Now, get bent.
A lot of downtown areas have just become a dumping ground for low income people that have not much better to do than loiter around and get into mischief. Theaters are gone, taverns...most are gone and what's left is a shell of what it once was, and no stores of any kind. Spent enough time in Smithsburg to know that 99% of anything I did had nothing to do with downtown other than driving through it to get somewhere else. Houses are dilapitated, outdated and dysfunctional. That there is something like this to be added is a good attraction and might see some business from tourists who use the park and trails around the area. People these days are just too glued to devices at home to want to venture out and this may tease a few out of their bunkers up there to come out. To me, most small towns need to realize that to make a downtown survive, a lot of the older buildings don't necessarily need to be saved vs some replaced with fresh to mix with old that will provide modern form with classic charms and a functionality that draws people vs just wants to make them pass by without doing anything but stopping at the only light around.
Thurmont has always been blamed for the activities of a few Rocky Ridge residents!!
I agree that alcohol makes spending time in Thurmont more bearable.
Do you find that spending time in Thurmont without alcohol unbearable?
Who’s spending time in Thurmont?
That’s the problem… No body… drunk or otherwise. It’s a far outskirt bedroom community to the DC metro area.
Rejuvenation of Main St., to recreate a reason to spend time there, would help the local economy, creating a community rather then witnessing another declining bypass.
The town’s location has a lot of potential. Why not exploit it’s history, it’s location, heritage, relative closeness to - Gettysburg, Camp David, Frederick and the Catoctin Mountains, and the towns own heritage? Who wouldn’t want a Kinkling in the fall or at Easter and it won’t get you drunk?
- Only a heavy stomach.
Thurmont could be a “Diamond in the rough” with a little vision the town could be a pleasurable visit. So why not encourage small socially oriented businesses to come?
Aw, apparently you aren't aware that Thurmont has been doing what you suggest for sometime now. But the town does have it's limitations. Like parking, for one. The one municipal parking lot is full every day from local employees, Even during the evenings and on weekends there are few open spaces in it, and street parking downtown is limited. There is no street parking on Church Street from the square on out to Rt. 15, or on Water Street down to, and including, Frederick Road. East and West Main Street has some metered parking but, as I said, it's very limited. With a rejuvenation of Main St., as you suggest, where do you think all the potential visitors should park?
And the town's close proximity to Camp David is completely irrelevant. Being a secure government presidential retreat, no tourists are allowed anywhere near it.
CD, You are less optimistic about Thurmont’s future then me. So why would anyone visit Thurmont unless drunk?
Aw, I'm a realist. I see things as they really are and I merely presented facts. Parking in Thurmont is an issue, the town was not built with streets wide enough to have two lanes for traffic and enough room for parking on each side. Rather than come up with a stupid crack like "So why would anyone visit Thurmont unless drunk?" why don't you tell me what your solution to the problem would be?
Aweteam, given the studies/surveys, Thurmont is not likely to change sson. Adding a brew pub will just add more drunks. Here is analysis of Millennials compared to GenX and Baby Boomers see: https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/archive/millennials/index.html Some of the investments I have in REITs also analyze upcoming markets and what Millennials want is significantly different than what Thurmont has to offer. About the only thing Thurmont has is Color Fest. The housing market certainly isn't what Millennials want and developers aren't likely to come to a market like Thurmont to build Apartments and Condos because who would move there? Here's another survey about Millennials and GenZ: https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/genzmillennialsurvey.html Without major changes, the future doesn't look bright for Thurmont.
Actually, MD1756, you're a bit off with your comment:
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/planning/cross-company-begins-annexation-process-for-thurmont-development/article_175bec68-4cde-58ba-b0e3-d7cf5d63566c.html
CD, time will tell. one development won't change much. What is out there to draw Millennials and Gen Z? I may like the area but that doesn't matter to the younger people.
I agree, MD1756, the plans for that area won't change things much around here. And that's fine with most of the locals I know, we like Thurmont just the way it is. I just wanted to bring that project to your attention to show our future isn't quite all that glum. The town was founded in 1751 and we'll be around for a while.
CD needs to think outside the box. If there is not enough parking, start a bus service or provide cheap taxi rides around the Town. There are places to park, just not close to where he wants them.
Dick, try getting your head out of where the sun don't shine sometime. I never said there were no places to park, I said that parking is limited and, if you knew half of what you like to think you know, you would know that. I can walk to anywhere in the town I care to, I don't need a parking spot. Seriously, it has to be pretty dark, and stink, where you keep your head. Try some fresh air and sunlight for a change, you just might like it.
CD, I agree thatThurmont will still exist, I just don't think there is much to "liven" the downtown with one brew pub and I have a hard time understanding why some people feel that every town needs a night life. With "night lives' comes an addition set of problems especially when bars start to shut down. I don't like it when politicians pin their hopes on better revenues by encouraging people to waste their money drinking at bars, etc. Right next to that "honey pot' could be the next cesspool. Economies of local governments generally shouldn't rely tax revenues from businesses that provide "luxuries."
CD, I doubt you want to see Thurmont to have a thriving tourist community. You are fine with how it is. That’s Okay with me. But the town does have options other than slowly fading away.
No.
Yes. Anything past the RV sales place northward….like going into the southern Bible Belt states. No thanks.
Good. No one up here wants a POS like you around in the first place. Stay in Frederick with the rest of your liberal buddies.
Have you thanked Trump for Maryland's new right to carry laws? [lol][lol][lol]
Cd, not surprised you disagree. You don’t have an optimistic nature. I’m just saying the old town of Thurmont’s Main St. has potential.
Drink enough and you really will not care that you are in Thurmont. What happened to the bowling alleys? What happened to the restaurant that POTUS used to visit? Republicans control the Town, why can't they do better?
Dick, ease up a bit. As a man of refinement, maybe you enjoy wine? Thurmont has two fine wineries - Catoctin Breeze, the wine is a bit pricey but is some of the finest wines in the County; & Links Bridge, a smaller winery, closer to Woodsboro but has a Thurmont address, they have some very fine wines and are very nice. On a hot day try the Albarino, very refreshing.
https://www.springfieldmanor.com/ Winery-distillery-brewery 8 mi. From Frederick off 15N
Blue, Thank you for leaving Springfield Manor off your list. Worst wine I've ever had.
"Drink enough and you really will not care that you are in Thurmont," Dick? And just what is that supposed to mean? Do you have some kind of problem with the town? Get a DUI here or something?
By the way Dick, you asked "What happened to the restaurant that POTUS used to visit?" I take it you're talking about the Cozy. The owner was in his upper 70's, had turned the restaurant over to his kids who mismanaged it, racked up a huge debt in back taxes, so he sold it. Are you saying this was the result of the Republicans who control the town? Or are you saying the Republicans who control the town should have footed that back tax bill for him? What I'm asking is what does a restaurant going out of business have to do with whomever controls the town? And just what is it you think the town leaders should do better?
👍👍Ole Dickdo talks out his arse like usual!!
I agree, Trekman. Dick feels he has to get political when it's neither necessary nor called for.
Especially if you have some alcohol before you go, Gladys.
Liquoring up before going to Thurmont would be perspicacious.
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