HEAVY Beer Company and Black Kite Coffee will operate a nano brewery and coffeehouse in the Wheelhouse, a renovated barn at the Beach Ridge Area of Oak Openings Preserve on SR 64 in Swanton.

The Board of Park Commissioners today approved a three-year lease agreement with the company.

The collaboration between Metroparks and the locally owned businesses will provide additional amenities for guests at the Cannaley Treehouse Village and create a gathering place for visitors to the largest Metropark. The business is expected to open later this year.

Beach Ridge is a nearly 500-acre addition to Oak Openings. More than 80 percent of the property – like all Metroparks – is dedicated to habitat conservation and restoration. In addition to the treehouse village, the Beach Ridge Area is also a trailhead for the popular, 12-mile Beach Ridge Singletrack trail and a mountain bike skills development course.

HEAVY Wheelhouse will be the first food and beverage operation in a Metropark, offering coffee services by Black Kite Coffee as well as food and craft beer from HEAVY’s small onsite brewery. Metroparks branded merchandise will also be sold. Under an agreement, Metroparks and HEAVY will share in the net profits from food and beverage sales.

The arrangement between Metroparks and HEAVY will make Beach Ridge even more inviting to guests while generating additional revenue for the perpetual care of the treehouse village, trails and other facilities.

Metroparks will make the necessary permanent improvements to the facility, including utilities. These improvements allow for expanded rental and usage options, regardless of the future use of the building. HEAVY will pay for the equipment and fixtures specific to its food service operation.

While this is the first food and beverage operation at Metroparks Toledo, other park systems in Ohio operate restaurants, golf courses, clubhouses, snackbars, catering and other food service businesses to serve their visitors. Metroparks is currently exploring potential operators for a restaurant that will be part of Phase 2 of Glass City Metropark.