We have a home!

It feels so great to have an address, to be able to point to a place on a map and say that we're building something exciting right here.

After nearly two years of searching, I admit that my greatest emotion since signing our lease has been relief — punctuated by tremendous moments of excitement. It’s like a big exhale. It makes all of our ideas and plans and partnerships much more concrete. They have weight. They have a future. They have a home.  And, while much uncertainty still lies ahead, it’s so much easier to face uncertainty when you have a secure place to call home.

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And it really is a wonderful home! 915 Spring Garden is a beautiful building that was built in the early 1900s to be the offices of the Reading Railroad (of Reading Terminal and Rail Park fame). It’s five lofty stories with big windows and tons of natural light. For several decades, it housed a YMCA for railroad workers, and a room where people newly arrived in the United States via Ellis Island or elsewhere could meet friends or receive guidance to help them navigate their new city. We love this part of 915’s past, because it’s all about bringing together and lifting up the Philadelphia community. The building has had subsequent lives, including as artist studios, but has been lying dormant for the last few years.

We will occupy part of the first floor, and are already making plans for designing a space that will make you smile with joy when you walk through our doors. It brings us so much joy to envision welcoming you there. (Really, grinning right now thinking of it!)

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But we don’t want to get carried away with our plans before really engaging with our neighbors. This neighborhood has experienced a lot of change in recent years, including a rebrand as the “Spring Arts” district. While many of these changes are positive, they are still changes — and change can be hard. We recognize that one of the big changes is in the use of the building itself. Before it was vacant, it was home to art studios — which was a wonderful use of the space. Several years ago, there was an eviction that disrupted a lot of artists’ lives and livelihoods, and the building fell vacant. While our landlord purchased it some time after that, we understand that this building may still trigger unhappy memories for some people. We are here to listen to your thoughts and ideas about how to we can contribute to a positive future for 915 Spring Garden and our surrounding community, if you ever would like to share them with us. We want Triple Bottom Brewing Company to be a happy place for everyone.

To our friends and neighbors in Spring Garden/West Poplar/Callowhill — please stay tuned for opportunities in the future to brainstorm ways we can play a positive role in our community. And to everyone (all three readers of this blog!), we hope you’ll follow along as we bring Triple Bottom to life. The best is yet to come! 

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