The deserted Boyd Hotel at 25 Hillsdale St. may become Hillsdale’s newest restaurant and microbrewery, if the Michigan Liquor Control Commission approves a liquor license for Roy Finch, Cinda Conant, and Kevin Conant.
After receiving approval from the Hillsdale City Council at its Aug. 4 meeting, Finch and Cinda applied for a liquor license to open up the microbrewery. Until they obtain the license, Finch, Cinda, and Kevin won’t be able to begin renovations or invest in the business.
If all goes according to plan, Finch and Cinda will own the restaurant while Kevin, who also manages Here’s to You Pub & Grub in downtown Hillsdale, will be the microbrewery’s restaurant manager.
It could take six to eight more weeks until they hear from the MLCC, Finch said, but waiting for the license isn’t stopping Finch and Kevin from envisioning their plans for the old building.
“We’re going to do renovations, but we’re keeping all the old woodwork,” Kevin said.
Right now, the formerly abandoned building needs plumbing, heating and cooling, bathrooms, and a kitchen. Finch and Kevin admire the 19th century architecture, and don’t want to change much.
“We want to keep the history of the building,” Finch said. “I like the brick and the bay windows.”
Walking in, visitors are treated to an intricately carved staircase before ascending to a wide, open room, which Kevin hopes to utilize as a dining room and live entertainment venue. Both Finch and Kevin plan to keep the exposed pipes lining the ceiling and walls in order to preserve the building’s industrial charm.
“Pretty much everything you see will stay the same,” Kevin said, “except painted and fixed up.”
As for the restaurant, Kevin wants the microbrewery to be deli-style and family-friendly.
“We’ll make our own meats, and we might have a fire brick oven,” Kevin said. “We want it to have a homey feel.”
It was Finch and Kevin’s love of brewing that inspired them to explore the microbrewery business.
“Roy and I have brewed together for a long time,” Kevin said. “My mom, Cinda, wanted to do something in retirement, and she bakes as a hobby, so we’ll have freshly baked bread [sold in the restaurant].”
If the MLCC awards Finch and Cinda a liquor license within the next month and a half, Finch hopes to open the microbrewery by late spring or early summer 2015.
“It’s fun to brew, and I don’t want to work in a factory all my life,” Finch said. “Microbreweries are hot right now, and I don’t see them going away.”
