GREEN BAY (NBC 26) - Titletown Brewing Company's restaurant is leaving the train station.
“There’s obviously a little sadness in leaving the depot and it’s affecting some of staffs jobs, and that's always sad because there's a lot of really good people we have working for us,” said cofounder and board member Brent Weycker.
The company has made the decision to move all of its operations under one roof; and it’s left some servers in shock.
“Working at Titletown, you do get to say, you are part of the story of Green Bay,” said server Alex Hopkins. He’s worked there for two years. “When people come to Green Bay they go to Titletown. To experience something in a city that existed for more than 100 years, it'll be really sad to see that go.”
Built in 1898, the depot is a historic place within the Railyard District. The city said this area has been gaining a lot of housing attraction as many new apartment buildings will be opening up this spring. But Kevin Vonck, the city’s development director, said the economy is making it difficult for restaurants to keep up with staffing.
“Restaurants are generally attracted there, but I think a real problem is keeping up with staffing,” Vonck said. “We’ve seen some closures because of staffing. I think there’s a market in terms of, the economy is healthy and people like going out, but for restaurants its a challenge is to get people to staff it.”
That’s part of the reason, Weycker said, led to their decision to consolidate.
“We’ve talked about it over the years, because we’ve not been using the brewery as much and the new brewery over here is a lot more efficient,” Weycker said.
He adds by moving the restaurant across the street, their menu will get a little smaller as not all of the favorites could make the cut.
As for the depot, there are no plans to tear it down.
“The depot has been part of our image and what we’ve been,” Weycker said. “It’s a great building. There’s a lot of great memories there and that's going to be the toughest part.”
And for servers like Hopkins, the memories will always live on because the depot is more than just a restaurant.
“Working as a server, there’s a couple that comes in and sits in a certain spot because that's where she saw her husband go off to war in the 70’s, and that's just one story amongst countless I could try to tell you,” Hopkins said.
Weycker said they're exploring all options for what to do with the building, but again, there are no plans to take the building down.
The city said while it’s not impossible to tear down a historic place, it is more challenging. Vonck said they’re hoping the building stays preserved in the future.
The restaurant is expected to open up at their North Broadway location within the next few weeks.
