Houghton Planning Commission approves new business expansions

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - New expansions are coming to Houghton city businesses.

The Keweenaw Brewing Company (KBC) is one of them, with plans to provide more outdoor space after the parking deck is demolished.

“The Keweenaw Brewing Company is planning to renovate and expand their current deck by rebuilding it and actually doing some extensions accessibility improvements for it,” said Houghton City Manager Eric Waara.

These improvements include the extension of the existing deck towards the canal, a new staircase along the current Swift Hardware building and a second, smaller deck on Lakeshore Dr.

The KBC hopes to have all of these completed by July in time for visitors to enjoy the new view.

“This is certainly the Keweenaw Brewing Company looking at the asset that that deck is to them and what the view is going to be once the deck is down,” continued Waara. “That certainly is what prompted their desire to do this.”

The KBC’s plan was approved by the planning commission Tuesday night.

In addition, the commission also approved a plan for the Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Houghton. Its warehouse will extend forward 24 feet, creating an additional 1,600 square feet of space.

This will be used to house Gatorade and Propel water products, which are new items that the business will distribute to Walmart and Pat’s Foods.

“Well, that’s a lot more product coming in, so unfortunately, I mean our shop is only so big and we had to look at different options of what we were going to do, and expanding is the best scenario,” said Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Houghton Assistant Manager Chris Carlin.

The company plans to begin construction on the extension once the snow melts, citing mid-April to May as a starting window.

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