A new pop-up beer garden is livening up more than just a quiet corner in Kennett Square; it’s sparking what local leaders hope to be a Birch Street renaissance.

Awakening the old cannery, creamery and former Eastern Condensed Milk Co. site after 12 years of silence, pop-up beer garden The Creamery threw its grand opening party to the delight of hundreds of people on at the beginning of June.

“We see this as a cutting-edge project,” Historic Kennett Square Executive Director Mary Hutchins said in a Daily Local News report by Fran Maye. “This was a run-down and underutilized industrial site. We are grateful to Mike (Bontrager) and his team for putting this together and making another destination in Kennett Square. We hope this is the start of the redevelopment of Birth Street.”

Now open Thursday through Sunday, The Creamery offers a playground-like community gathering place with games, live music, food and drink served on everything from “tyke-sized picnic tables” to bar stools, tree stumps and folding chairs.

“What we wanted and what we dreamed of is having a space where many different people of all ages can come,” Owner Mike Bontrager said in the article. “We have games, and what we have is a place where people can be community and just hang out together.”

Read more about The Creamery’s grand opening in the Daily Local News here, as well as pre-launch VISTA Today coverage of the building’s transformation here.