Foxborough Chooses Shovel Town Brew Pub To Replace Old Firehouse

FOXBOROUGH, MA — A popular craft beer brewery is expected to move into the former firehouse/Keating Funeral Home property after the selectmen, in a 2-1 vote last week, named Douglas A. King Builders Inc. the developer for the project. King has a plan to partner with Easton's Shovel Town Brewing to open a second brew pub, with some of its own unique beers exclusive to Foxborough. The developers also plan to build 19 apartments units on the property.

The other proposals considered came from Crugnale Properties, LLC, of Mansfield, and MPZ Development LLC, of Milton/Traggorth Companies LLC, of Boston. Crugnale proposed a restaurant, retail space, and 19 apartments, while MPZ proposed partnering with Kitchen Partners LLC, the same company that opened the Union Straw restaurant at the former American Legion Hall on Mechanic Street and included only a five one-bedroom apartments.

King's proposal was ranked the best out of the three by the town's economic development committee, this past March. It plans to demolish the old Keating Funeral Home, but renovate the existing firehouse building into a 3,900 square-foot brew pub with four apartment units. An additional 15 units are expected to be built in a new building, according to King's proposal.

"This was a tough decision. All three proposals had pros and all three proposals had cons," Selectman David Feldman said prior to the boards Wednesday night vote.

Neighboring residents remain worried about those potential cons with the brew house. Specifically, residents objected to the King Proposal because of potential parking issues and the overall size of the project. At the regularly scheduled selectmen meeting the night before, residents came out and submitted a petition to the selectmen asking them to vote for the Gibson proposal because of its smaller size. The 350 residents who signed the petition believed the smaller proposal is a better fit for what already exist in the neighborhood.

At Wednesday's meeting, the board voted not to hold an additional public comment, but tried to assure residents that the vote tonight doesn't mean the proposal is set in stone as written.

"Whoever is selected, it's just the start of the process for them," Feldman said.

The project still needs to be reviewed by the town's design review board and needs a special permit from the planning board. Feldman said its not likely the proposal approved today will be the final draft before construction. He said changes to the proposal are likely.

If the approval process goes through, Foxborough could soon have two craft breweries. Worcester's Wormtown Brewery is expected to open at Patriot Place this summer.