Joseph Rieman, owner of Fairmont Brewing Company, is seen in the space. They have removed the wood paneling and plastering off the walls to allow for the exposed brick to show. Zach Petersen of ZWP LLC is seen in the background working on the framing for the service area.

FAIRMONT — Earlier this year, husband and wife team Joseph and Lea Riemann secured the former Senior Citizens Center as the site of their new business, Fairmont Brewing Company. While there have been some delays, the Riemanns said that things are still moving along at a good pace. Lea said that the main reason for the hold-up has to do with some flooring issues.

“Our original was the summer, but because of COVID and the shipping dates, the tanks were pushed out until September,” she said. “So we pushed our opening date to late September or early October.

Then as construction progressed we found out that the epoxy floor, which the tanks will be on, can’t be installed until after the cement for the trench. So because we have to re-pour cement, we have to wait 30 days before we can put the epoxy floor down. That pushed us out another month, so we’re looking at an early November date in order to make sure the floor is reliable.”

In a previous interview, the Riemanns said that they began looking for a safer place to raise their children after the riots that took place in the Twin Cities over the summer of 2020.

“We looked around and found Fairmont,” Joseph said at the time. “We took a weekend in September and drove into town and almost immediately seeing the logo on the water tower and driving past the lakes we wondered where had this gem of a city been? The idea of a city of lakes and being able to afford living so close to a chain of lakes just seemed exactly like what we were looking for.

“We really fell in love with Fairmont, and we’re hoping to have the brewery be more than just locally brewed beer. We really want to try and lift up the people and history of Fairmont. We’re excited about it.”

Lea stated that while there is other work that needs done, the flooring is the main issue.

“There’s just no way around it if we want the floor to have integrity. It just pushes us out a little longer than we anticipated.”

She went on to say that they hope to be able to do a couple of soft openings before the early November opening date but noted that nothing is final until the tanks arrive.

She also said that there has been a lot of public interest.

“People have been asking if we’ve been hiring and that kind of stuff,” she said. “We’re just going to have to let people know through our newsletter because of the timing of everything has to do with when the tanks land. Because of COVID we just don’t want to give any dates or make anything solid until those are in our building.”

Riemann shared that the Fairmont Brewing Company does have a social media presence, with a website where people can sign up for a newsletter to keep up with the progress. In addition, people can search for the Fairmont Brewing Company on Facebook and Instagram.