LE CLAIRE, Iowa — The Mississippi River Distilling Company has expanded to the building next-door. A ribbon cutting and open house was held for their new "Celebration Center" on Sunday, August 1.
The space was made with celebrating in mind - it features a rooftop patio overlooking the river, banquet seating space for 150 people on the main floor and a basement conference room with tables made with wood from the original building.
“This is a place for all kinds of celebrations. It’s an area where we can host our Friday Night Live in LeClaire bands, have a wedding the next day, serve a brunch on Sunday,” said owner Garrett Burchett.
The distillery had originally planned construction for early 2020, but the project was put on hold during the pandemic. With vaccines becoming more widely available, plans were revived in March 2021.
“We have found there is great demand for a space like this,” said event manager Leah Cafarelli. “There is a big back log of weddings and other events that people put on pause in 2020. Our weekends for 2021 are already almost full and people are booking into 2022 and 2023 already.”
At the open house, vendors set up a mock wedding reception to show the space in full décor. If you'd like to check out the space, it will be open to the public again on Friday, August 6 for Friday Night Live in LeClaire.
"We’re into our eleventh year here in LeClaire and we feel in a way that it’s almost a rebirth with all the adjustments we’ve made in the past year,” said owner Ryan Burchett. "We're really, as a company, worrying less about selling stuff out on the shelves far away from here and putting our eggs in this basket here in LeClaire."