USA, VA: Work on Hopewell’s Good Ship Brewing and Eatery underway

Nearly five years after it was first announced, work on Hopewell’s first brewery is underway, Richmond BizSense reported on September 23.

Earlier this year construction kicked off on Good Ship Brewing and Eatery at 204-208 E. Cawson St. in downtown Hopewell.

Behind the concept is Donnie Barber, a Tri-Cities local known for his homebuilding company, Barber Construction Co. When Barber first began planning Good Ship in late 2019, he was hoping for it to open in the fall of 2020.

Those plans were promptly put on hold by the pandemic, and Barber said he spent the ensuing years focusing on his construction business. But he said he never fully scrapped the idea of Good Ship, especially since opening it was a dream he shared with his late father.

“He passed away during COVID, so that made me feel even more strongly about keeping the dream alive,” Barber said.

Barber said he was also spurred along in the years since with the nearby Beacon Theatre gaining momentum, along with the surrounding area of the city.

Barber said construction on Good Ship began earlier this year. The project is fueled in part by a $500,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s “Mixed Use on Main Street” program, which incentivizes developers to renovate old buildings in certain downtown corridors.

“We’re full speed ahead,” Barber said. “We’ve secured the funds and have started ordering kitchen equipment.”

Good Ship will occupy multiple buildings, all of which Barber has owned since 2019.

The brewpub and beer garden will be at 204 E. Cawson St., while a two-story building behind it at 207½ E. Broadway will house the brewery’s production area and a rentable retail space below a pair of two-bedroom apartments.

Attached to the brewpub is 208 E. Cawson St., which Barber said he hopes to eventually connect to the brewery and have it include an arcade-bar. In total, Good Ship could eventually span over 25,000 square feet.

“We’re building a destination, and that’s why we’ve really taken our time,” Barber said.

“We’re not really in competition with anybody with this. In Hopewell there’s nothing else around here like this. Our beer garden alone is going to be over 5,000 square feet.”

Good Ship will operate a five-barrel brewing system and keep up to 16 beers on tap. Barber said it will focus on ales and other more palatable brews, while also rotating in stouts, sours, lagers and more. The food menu will focus on pizza, sandwiches and brats.

Barber’s firm is handling the build-out, and Cornerstone Architecture and Interior Design is the designer. Barber said the project budget is around $2 million.

He said the business is aiming to open in March 2025. Once it opens, even though it will have been nearly six years after the original announcement, Good Ship will still be Hopewell’s first brewery.

A few miles down the way into Prince George County is the former Holy Mackerel Small Batch Beers brewery, which was recently bought by a couple of Petersburg restaurateurs who are converting it into a new restaurant, The Salty Siren.

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