Just look for the parked vintage fire apparatus, and a location for the Firehouse Brewing Co. must be nearby.
Bob Fuchs owns the Firehouse Brewing Co., Firehouse Wine Cellars and Que Pasa? Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar in downtown Rapid City, and earlier this month branched out, opening the Firehouse Smokejumper Station at 23858 state Highway 385 near Hill City.
The Smokejumper Station draws customers very adequately with signage, with the rustic frame building set off by a traditional red fire pumper and a ladder truck flying the American Flag from a partially extended boom, parked on the property next to Highway 385.
Fuchs purchased the 1940s era building, formerly housing a propane and ATV business, and remodeled it as a gathering place to showcase the Firehouse’s selection of craft beers and wines, along with a mercantile store.
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“It’s fun to put together a new experience for both the locals and the tourists,” he said.
Soon to join the tasting room and mercantile, he said, is an eclectic food menu featuring a few favorites from the Rapid City Firehouse Restaurant , including their signature cheesy artichoke dip and Gorgonzola beer cheese soup.
“We’re going to be doing a little more pizzazz to our food up there and orienting it a little bit more toward the wine lover,” Fuchs said.
The back patio overlooking an active Spring Creek (thanks to all the rain this summer) is a backdrop to a grassy back patio area, which is home to live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Firehouse Smokejumper Station joins other wineries and microbreweries in the Hill City area, among them Prairie Berry Winery and Miner Brewing Co., Naked Winery and Stone Faces Winery and Distillery.
Fuchs said locally-produced wines and craft beers are a draw for visitors, with wines actually outselling beers for the first time in several years, he said.
“It’ll make for a really fun afternoon for people to come up and do some wine and beer tastings right in a row there,” Fuchs said.
“By adding us to that mix, it’ll become even better of an experience,” he said. “I think we’ll all complement each other very well.”
Downtown developments
A posted sign at 616 St. Joseph St. thanked customers for supporting the downtown Rocker Shop, which had featured clothing and other items from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, but also stated the store had closed on July 13.
Customers were urged to shop the store in the Surbeck Center Student Union building on the Mines Campus, or online at hardrockershop.com.
Coming soon, right next door, at 618 St. Joseph, is something called the Dead Stock Exchange. Not much available on this apparent work-in-progress, but a web search revealed a District-of-Columbia based online business of the same name offering “dead stock” or out-of-production athletic shoes and active wear. Indeed, there are name-brand shoes on window display behind a partially curtained front of the store. Hopefully more information will be available soon.