Neighbors fear a new owner will raze Schmidt's Brewery, including this boiler house. (Dave Wickiser)

Beer isn't always associated with wealth, but in 1930s St. Paul, Minn., a beer-brewing, gangster-ridden town, the two were inextricably linked. One night in 1934, the Barker-Karpis Gang—under orders from Ma Barker and Creepy Karpis—seized banker Edward Bremer, son of the Jacob Schmidt Brewery Co. president. The thugs had already kidnapped and released William Hamm Jr., president of the city's Hamm Brewing Co., for a $100,000 ransom. When President Franklin Roosevelt decried the crime, however, the gang released the beer magnate.

The brewery at the center of the hoopla, the castlelike Jacob Schmidt Brewery, built in 1855, has sat empty for three years. Its fate is now in the hands of its current owner, Gopher State Ethanol, which wants at least $6 million for the 15-acre property. A February auction ended without a sale, however, and a second auction has been delayed again and again.

Though the city of St. Paul lost the February bid after Gopher State officials deemed its $4 million offer too low, city council members still harbor hopes of acquiring and developing the Schmidt Brewery. And a handful of very determined residents insist they get a say in the brewery's future.

Calling themselves Schmidt Happens or the West End Brewery Preservation Association, neighbors hope to persuade developers to save the brewery's notable features, including the 1930s Rathskeller basement pub where visitors were once treated to free beer samples.

"There's nothing now to stop the next owner from just blowing the place up," says resident Andrew Hine, a member of the association.

Today developer T.J. Hammerstrom, who heads SpringPointe Development of Bloomington, Minn., announced that he has an agreement with Gopher State Ethanol to purchase the brewery site. He plans a mix of condominiums and stores with around 600 housing units. He also plans to put up two new condo buildings. City officials are scheduled to meet with Hammerstrom next week.

But the housing density Hammerstrom proposes could jeopardize city acceptance, said Susan Kimberly, St. Paul planning and economic development director.

City Council member Dave Thune, who represents the St. Paul district that houses the brewery, doubts Hammerstrom's proposal will see the light of day.

"It probably won't fly with the city, and it won't fly with the neighborhood," Thune says.

(Dave Wickiser)

The main 102,625-square-foot brewery building consists of a nine-story tower, a keg house, stock house, wash house, and a 10-story building. The low-lying site is also home to seven brick outbuildings that include a bottle house, office (with Rathskeller), as well as several brick sheds and a livery.

Neighbors want to ensure the tower top, with its panoramic view of the Mississippi, St. Paul, and Minneapolis, isn't made over as condos. To try to protect the complex, the association has commissioned a local designation study, a step toward nominating the brewery to the National Register of Historic Places, says neighborhood resident Andrew Hine.

In February, the state historic-preservation office declared the brewery eligible for the National Register, according to Susan Roth, National Register historian.

Original owner Christopher Stahlmann was drawn to the then out-of-the-way spot by the land beneath the property, which hides a natural artisan well and many caves. For his Cave Brewery, Stahlmann excavated the caves to make a three-story deep, mile-wide storage area that still exists. Many brewery tunnels crisscross the land below the property.

Historic postcard

The brewery has changed hands several times through its 150 years, but it operated the longest as the Jacob Schmidt Brewery, and the location is still synonymous with Schmidt beer. Schmidt's son-in-law, Adolf Bremer, bought the brewery in 1901, after a fire destroyed the original Jacob Schmidt Brewing Co. four miles away. In 1955, Schmidt Brewing sold the business to the Pfeiffer Brewing Co., but the new owners kept the well-known Schmidt label. G. Heilemann Brewing Co. bought the brewery in 1972. Then, in 1991, the Minnesota Brewing Co. moved into the old Schmidt Brewery building, closing the doors, possibly forever, in 2002.

Through all those changes, the Schmidt name flashed across the St. Paul skyline for close to 50 years in large red letters that blinked, one after the other. Fifteen years ago, that sign was replaced by a "Landmark," sign which stands today. And last year, Gopher State Ethanol destroyed the letters, which were stored at the brewery. Still, many in St. Paul remember the Schmidt sign. "I knew I was back when I'd be driving into the city and see that name," says James Cahoy, a St. Paul resident.

In recent years, the brewery was home to one of America's only urban ethanol plants, a stinking sensation that had neighbors commonly protesting the smell, Hine says. Ethanol is a high-octane fuel additive that's blended with gasoline to reduce automobile emissions. At the same time, though, Minnesota Brewing made beer on its portion of the property.

Last year, Gopher State Ethanol shuttered operations in amid stepped-up EPA requirements for pollution-reduction and odor-reducing equipment that required money the company didn't have. It made plans to auction the brewery and its outbuildings in February 2005.

Schmidt tower (Andrew Hine)

The sole bid came from St. Paul-backed developer Sherman Associates, which offered $4 million. George Sherman had plans to construct up to 500 units of housing—ranging from moderate-income rentals to ritzy condos—and smaller retail properties. The city had agreed to lend Sherman Associates $1 million for the project. But Dave Kreitzer, president of Gopher State Ethanol, rejected that offer as too low and made plans for a sealed auction administered by Biditup Auctions and Appraisals of Studio City, Calif., originally slated for mid-March. The minimum bid was $6 million.

Gopher State, Biditup, and Sherman didn't return calls for comment.

"When only one bidder bid on the buildings and property, and a few others bid on the ethanol equipment, the owners and auctioneers decided that the offers weren't high enough," Hines says. "We, on the other hand, decided the market had spoken, and that what was offered equaled, in fact defined, the value of the property."

The association is trying to prevent another ethanol plant from moving into the old brewery. After all, the equipment for such an operation still exists. Though it's included in the sale, it could be sold off separately, Hine says.

Some council members question whether the city needs to buy a second brewery, however, as the city already owns an unused brewery, now taken off the tax rolls until development plans can be firmed up. In 2003, the city bought the oldest portion of the former Hamm Brewery on St. Paul's east side, some five miles away from the Schmidt Brewery. But the city has yet to firm up a plan on what to do with its part of the 40-building complex, which closed in 1997.

"Whatever happens, the neighborhood will be sticking its nose into the reuse of the site," Hine says. "But hopefully this will be seen as being helpful, not a hindrance. This brewery redevelopment project is not about making money for a developer, but for creating value for the city, its residents, and its visitors," he says. "The site is special, and we've seen enough crap built lately that we won't stand for any at Schmidt."

Jean Thalminy is a freelance writer who lives in St. Paul, Minn.

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