Meinelschmidt Distillery will officially open in the Masonic Temple late 2020. The distillery will be accessible through Potomac Walk adjacent to the Bulls and Bears restaurant. Owners, Cort and Chelsea Meineschmidt are thrilled for their new venture in downtown Hagerstown. This is the first business to call the Masonic Temple their home and we are officially pre-leasing other areas of the building to be available early 2021.
Q&A with owners Cort and Chelsea Meinelschmidt
What made you come up with the idea to open up a distillery? – Chelsea & I love to host and entertain, we also enjoy being creative with flavors. So, we wanted to create a destination in Washington County where we can share our passion.
Why Downtown Hagerstown? – We wanted to be located in the Arts and Entertainment District because of the events and the Maryland Theatre, and since I have been located in downtown for 8 years I can see the growth and want to continue to contribute to that growth.
Why are you excited to be located in the historic Masonic Temple? – The building has amazing character and we cannot wait to show it off to all of our customers.
What will you offer guests? – Not only will we be producing the the highest quality whiskey, bourbons and vodkas, we will have a full compliment of amazing and unique cocktails.
Check out their website – www.meineldistillery.com
Construction Plans
So what will the distillery look like and how is Bowman Development working to preserve this historic building? President of Bowman Construction, Jeff Tedrick answered all of your pressing questions:
“Although there are alterations required to add a modern elevator, bathrooms, electric service, plumbing, sprinklers, and heating it is our intent to maintain as much of the original building character and preserve the historic features. The exterior will be refreshed and will remain unchanged. Also, other than the addition of a new elevator and toilet rooms .. the majority of the original room configurations will also remain.
On the interior we plan to preserve and re-finish many of the wood floors, doors, trim, and ornate ceilings. We also plan to maintain and refinish the original fireplace, mantel, and shelving in the formal front room
We will incorporate the use of natural stone and brick walls where possible, and keep the main stair functional doing only cosmetic improvements.
This is a beautiful building and I have emphasized to the architect and contractors from day one that we want to preserve and accentuate as much of the original character as possible.”
First Floor of the Masonic Temple- Floor Plan
Current Construction Photos:
Check out our Facebook Page for updates as we get closer to the opening of this exciting business!