MARBLEHEAD — Father Andrew Bushell is in the midst of converting a Pleasant Street building into an Orthodox monastic brewery.
“We purchased our new church in Marblehead, 124 Pleasant St., in late August and dedicated it to St. Nicholas, patron of sailors, brewers and repentant thieves, and as the new home of the Marblehead Brewing Company,” Bushell said. “We have started celebrating services in a very modest way as we work through the permitting process and enlarge our brewery.”
Bushell, a Marblehead native and executive director of the St. Paul’s Foundation, a monastic institution of the monks of Mount Athos in Greece, a church, not a nonprofit, said the building is located in downtown Marblehead. It was sold to the Shrine of Nicholas for $830,000 by Bang Tin LLC, an entity managed by Petrisse Briel and Constance Vallis, according to online records.
“The Marblehead Brewing Company is the first Orthodox monastic brewery in the world and a majority of the profits from the sale of our beer help support our charitable works as well as the redevelopment of our current building into a stone church complex open to all,” he said.
Bushell said the building was Bang Tin Gallery, an art gallery, before his purchase. He said monks can only brew in a monastery, and that they got their brewery license last December from the state. They have been brewing already and had previously partnered with the monks in Spencer, who built America’s first Trappist brewery.
Bushell said the first purpose is for the building to be a church dedicated to St. Nicholas. “I take it wrong when people say the brewery is driving our decisions. The brewery does not drive our decisions. It’s a way to support our ministry,” he said.
Bushell said it’s traditional for monks to support themselves by the work of their own hands. He said in a previous interview that he already supports a small monastic house in Marblehead through the Marblehead Salt Company, which was founded about six years ago when he returned to town.
Last year, in nearby Swampscott, Bushell had a purchase agreement in place with the Sisters of Mercy, the current owners of the former Marian Court College, also known as White Court, but ultimately backed out of buying the building.
He said at the time that his decision to complete the purchase of the Marian Court property, located at 35 Littles Point Road, hinged on being able to build a small monastic brewery and cider house on the site, inside of what is now the Mercy Center.
Town officials in Swampscott were against the brewery, arguing that zoning bylaws do not allow for one in the residential district where the former college is located. Bushell argued that the brewery was allowed under the Dover Amendment exemption, the law that exempts agricultural, religious and educational corporations from certain zoning restrictions.
Bushell said the Pleasant Street building in Marblehead is not as large and well integrated as Marian Court would have been, which would have allowed the monks more space for uses such as holding retreats.
“This is a much smaller property, but it fits our needs,” he said. “We’ll probably buy a second property in Marblehead when the community expands, but this allows us to start now. If we had proceeded with the purchase of Marian Court, we would have had to fight the town in court, (which) could have taken years. We have no doubt we would have won, but it would have delayed things.”
Bushell said he had a much different experience in Marblehead, as he believes the town has been supportive of the brewery.
Town Administrator John McGinn said Bushell has met with the building inspector to determine what building permits he might need for the renovations.
“We’re not making any judgments,” McGinn said. “We’re trying to make sure permits required are obtained and adhered to and it’s as simple as that like we would with any other applicant.”
Rebecca Curran Cutting, town planner, said religious and schools uses are allowed in every district and that the brewery is an allowed use in the district where the building is located, in the commercial district downtown.
Bushell said plans are to tear down the building in five to seven years and build something new. He said renovations will be small for now, because they don’t want to sink a lot of money into a building that’s going to be torn down in a few years.
Bushell said everyone is welcome to come to the Feast of St. Nicholas on Wednesday. The monks will be celebrating the debut of their first beer in quantity, Marblehead Ale No. 2, a colonial pale ale, and which will also feature a ticketed lobster dinner. Tickets can be purchased at www.marbleheadsalt.com.
