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USA, CT: Middletown’s expanded soccer facility to welcome a brewery on site
An expanded soccer facility on Randolph Road in Middletown will now be able to have a brewery on site thanks to recent approvals, The Middletown Press reported on January 12.
Zach Eddinger, owner of Vale Sports Club at 1280 Newfield St., recently came before the Planning and Zoning Commission to request an on-site move of the indoor athletic field building, as well as approval to open a brewery with outdoor seating open to the public.
Eli Cannon’s Tap Room and Tate’s restaurant owners Rocco and Aubrey Lamonica, and their brewery collective are partnering with Vale to supply food and beverages in lieu of a concession stand.
There is a café at the current location, Eddinger told commissioners, for which he has a license to sell beer and wine.
He also sought permission to construct shared office and retail business space, a gym for parents of youth soccer players, and a physical therapy center on the 26,000-square-foot former CL&P property on Randolph Road.
He is presently clearing land for an indoor/outdoor recreation facility with three soccer fields.
Eddinger has said the building layout would be similar to Middletown’s downtown walking mall, Main Street Market.
He was also given approval to modify the proposed parking layout, landscaping and utilities.
Eddinger had presented his plan at last month’s meeting, however, board members postponed the discussion to January’s session due to several concerns by the public and commissioners, mostly related to the proposed 100-seat brewery.
Afterward, he withdrew the application and submitted a modified version on Jan. 2.
The brewery will serve “casual, sports team-related” foods — such as brick-oven pizza, chicken tenders and french fries — for pre- and post-sport activities, according to the application.
It would close at 10:30 p.m., at the conclusion of soccer events.
Rocco Lamonica, who also co-owns Noah's at 63 Main in Essex, told commissioners the Eli Cannon’s Brewery Collective has outgrown the small space at Tate’s, so they jumped at the opportunity to take over the concessions.
The intention is for the complex to be a gathering place for “people who want to relax with their sport family have a place to go," Eddinger wrote in the application.
"The plan is to exist in the least disruptive manner for the existing neighborhood,” he added.
Live music would be played during the daytime and limited to indoors in the evenings. It would be “softer in nature, and simply mood music to add to the space,” Eddinger said.
In a letter dated Nov. 13, Rocco Lamonica, who has co-operated Eli’s for 14 years, and owned it for seven, sought to clear up what he considers "misconceptions" about the brewery by saying that a portion of the business would be used to brew beer.
He has never had a liquor citation or issue with his four liquor permits, he wrote.
Eddinger said the only “noise impact” on the site would be “soft, simple mood music” indoors at the brewery in the evenings. Other than that, the main sound would come from youth on the soccer field, he said.
Eddinger received 17 letters in support of his plan, including from several area business owners, players’ parents, coaches, Concentric Brewing of Portland, Mondo restaurant, Xavier High School, the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, and Middlesex Health, a top sponsor of the club.
"This large capital project will inspire unity and pride within our community, and serve as a catalyst for broader opportunities as a growing community,” Middlesex Health said in its letter.
Commissioner Sebastian Giuliano admitted he has been the “harshest critic” of the proposal, but Eddinger has now satisfied every one of his concerns.
Eddinger’s last presentation to the commission was “disjointed,” leaving Giuliano and other commissioners curious as to how Vale would “mesh together disparate activities,” Giuliano said.
“It didn't make sense," Giuliano told him. "You've corrected that. I gladly support it this time around."
Both measures passed unanimously.
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