K2 Brothers Brewing owners bought an elementary school. No, seriously.
K2 Brothers Brewing owners bought an elementary school. No, seriously.
Kyle and Brad Kennedy bought a shuttered elementary school in Wayne County and plan to turn it into an entertainment destination.
Remember that time Matt Damon bought a zoo in that one Hollywood movie? That was based on a true story. But facts can often be stranger and goofier than fiction.
Which is why the Kennedy brothers’ decision to buy a shuttered elementary school in Wayne County could be construed as something straight out of a Hollywood script. But in this case, it’s real life. The Kennedys, Kyle and Brad, co-founders of K2 Brothers Brewing in Penfield, bought the former Freewill Elementary School property, 4320 Canandaigua Road in Walworth, from the Wayne Central School District and plan to turn it into an entertainment complex and brewery unlike anything this region has ever seen.
The Kennedys hope the 72,000-square-foot building will re-open in January as the second branch of the burgeoning K2 empire. (It could open sooner if they decide to open the taproom itself before the brewery is ready.) It’ll operate, essentially, as a branch office under the state’s farm brewery license.
Initially, they only plan to utilize about a third of the total space, including remaking the larger of the school’s two gymnasiums into a 20-barrel four vessel brewing facility and the cafeteria into a tasting room/bar. The school closed about six years ago and has been vacant since.
The Kennedys paid $1.5 million for the 42-acre property, according to the Wayne County Clerk’s Office. In total, the project will cost millions of dollars. The Kennedys declined to reveal how much they plan to spend.
“We envision this place being a mix of Dave and Buster’s, Lasertron, and Radio Social, and all under one roof,” Brad said.
Photo (from left to right): Kyle and Brad Kennedy stand on the roof of the former Freewill Elementary School in Walworth, Wayne County.
Kyle and Brad, opened the original K2 location along Empire Boulevard in Penfield in late 2017, They were ready to move forward with a new location in the city of Rochester right as the pandemic pause hit in early 2020. But they were able to take a step back and continue their search amid all the uncertainty. When their real estate broker approached them with the possibility of buying the Wayne County school, they thought, “Where else are we gonna get this much space and have this much of a blank canvas for this price?” Kyle said.
So after finally closing on the property and gaining all the approvals from both the Wayne school board and Walworth town board, they welcomed the media in Tuesday for a tour of the eerily blank canvas. There are still remnants of the school everywhere — from a sign welcoming visitors to the main office to a plaque commemorating the opening of the school in 1969.
The school’s main entrance will become the main entrance for the brewery. Work has already begun in the larger gymnasium as trenches are dug for plumbing. K2 will again work for local manufacturer Ultimate Brew Service for the 20-barrel system. UBS recently completed and installed beautiful new systems for Faircraft Brauhaus in Fairport and the soon-to-open Rising Storm facility at the Daisy Flour Mill in Penfield. And like they did in the original space, Dick Kennedy, a retired general contractor and father of Kyle and Brad, is helping with much of the renovation work.
The new system will allow K2 to pump out up to 300 barrels per week, meaning yearly production could top out at more than 15,000 barrels of beer. K2’s current space is completely maxed out and produces about 2,000 barrels per year, Brad said. (K2 has recently been contract brewing at Young Lion Brewing in Canandaigua to meet demand.)
Kyle and Brad took the media up on the school roof to show just how expansive the property is. From the large area near the main entrance slated to become a beer garden to the sloping hill on the west side of the property that could one day become a natural amphitheater for concerts, the possibilities seem endless. The smaller gymnasium will be keep intact and be used for indoor games like cornhole. (K2’s Penfield location already hosts regular cornhole leagues.) And like the Penfield flagship, the new K2 location will be known for its outdoor seating area.
Two wings of the school will remain largely untouched for now. Kyle and Brad said the two corridors represent the next phase of the project, potentially to be completed in the next five years. (But that’s probably not before the original Penfield location receives a redesign and a facelift to better take advantage of its view of Irondequoit Bay.) The cafeteria kitchen is prime for K2 to come in and operate another kitchen. Brad even joked they won’t have to wash dishes any more, because the conveyor belt machine used for rinsing trays and dishes is still in place.
Two former music rooms will be available for people to rent out for events and will be equipped with multimedia capabilities for business meetings. Another empty classroom will be home to various pinball or arcade machines. The building even has two interior courtyards that could eventually be transformed into something cool. Maybe they could even add a rooftop patio. Kyle envisions adding trails for snow mobiles in the winter. Or maybe they could add a disc golf course.
With a canvas this massive, the possibilities really seem endless. The property abuts Greystone golf course and its snow tubing area. Blue Heron Hills golf course is right down the road.
When Brad took me on a walking tour of the property, I joked, “Did you ever expect you’d have the keys to your own school?” Brad just shook his head, smiled, and replied, “No way.”
He continued, “It’s still a little surreal for me to be in here.”
The Kennedys already repurposed a 10,000-square-foot former antiques store into their original location. So what is to stop them from breathing new life into a shuttered school? Imagination and money are surely the two biggest hurdles.
“This could be an adult playground,” Kyle joked.
K2 has been awarded multiple gold medals from the New York State Craft Beer Competition for its blue raspberry sour and most recently for its imperial red rye ale. The brewery, led by head brewer Adam Keith, definitely excels in making American-style beers, including a huge range of hazy IPAs, fruited sours, and stouts.
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