Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have submitted plans to create a new sprawling Wrexham Lager brewery beside the club’s football grounds. The venue, which will act as a “gateway” to the city will also be used as a way to welcome tourists.
The “hybrid application” proposal suggests a “change of use” to turn the former Jewson’s Warehouse which is on 6.7 acres at the station approach into a brewery and office space and adapt the Cambrian Sheds into a museum, taproom, restaurant and shop for the Wrexham Lager brand.
A gateway for Wrexham
Since the duo bought Wrexham AFC five years ago, the club has risen up the ranks from the non-league to England’s second tier. Added to this, the brand has also found fame via a Disney+ documentary Welcome to Wrexham, which followed the club’s story and focused global attention on the area, also boosting tourist numbers. Then, last year, Reynolds and McElhenney acquired a majority stake in local brewery Wrexham Lager. McElhenney, who recently filed to legally change his name to Rob Mac after concerns those he’s doing business with in “other regions of the world” won’t be able to pronounce his original moniker, also co-owns the whiskey brand Four Walls, with his It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-stars, which is already an official sponsor of the club. However, now there are plans afoot for other drinks brands, including Wrexham Lager to have a boosted presence with the proximity of the new brewery being developed nearby.
The beer, which was founded in 1882 by German Immigrants Ivan Levinstein and Otto Isle, was previously under the ownership of Carlsberg before then being acquired by Martin Jones, who worked at the brewery until 1987, when he became MP for Clwyd South (serving until 2010). Jones revived the brewery, which had ceased operations in 2000, in 2011, procuring its rights for £1.
Redevelopment
The application reads: ‘The Wrexham Lager proposals, consisting a brewery and associated taproom and museum, will utilise existing buildings on the site.’
Working alongside Transport for Wales, local reports have shown how the county council has now put forward the proposals with the authority having suggested that redevelopment of the station area as well as enhanced transport provisions will support tourism and economic growth.
The permission sought for a commercial office building, surrounded by a public plaza outside the station entrance, will also include a pedestrian footbridge over the railway track.
SHR Studio Architecture is behind the designs of the gateway and would include the demolition of a former Girl Guides facility. Also assisting in the application, SK Transport Planning, Cushman & Wakefield, Futures Ecology, Ante Group, Civic Heritage, and Civic Earth have also been consulted.
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