ENFIELD VILLAGE — A new microbrewery could be coming to downtown Enfield within the next year.

The Planning Board will hear a proposal for converting a building that previously housed a laundromat on Main Street into a microbrewery at its Wednesday night meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Enfield Public Works Facility, 74 Lockehaven Road. It can also be streamed online via enfield.nh.us/meetings.

Enfield resident Brian Degnan has owned the building, located at 59 Main St., since 2017. He operated it as a laundromat for a little over a year, until a dryer fire caused extensive damage.

While Degnan considered re-opening it as a laundromat, he said it was not economically viable for him to do so.

He thought the building — which he said was built by a railroad company in 1907 for use as a depot — would make a good coffee shop, but could not find someone to run it. The building backs up to the Northern Rail Trail and Degnan thought it would be nice to have a business that people would also want to access by bike or by foot.

“I was waiting for something that would be a point of interest for Enfield,” Degnan said. “Enfield is a great stop on the Rail Trail, particularly in the summer.”

Then a few months ago, town officials connected Degnan with Dan Thomas, who with his wife, Kelly, co-owns Hoptimystic Brewing, a brewery that currently has a newly opened tasting room in Sunapee Harbor. Degnan will remain the owner of the building.

“They fell in love with that spot,” Rob Taylor, Enfield’s land use and community development administrator, said of the brewery owners. “It’s a beautiful building and just the right amount of square footage for them.”

The building is roughly 2,100 square feet, according to the property’s tax card. It is also on the town’s water and sewer system.

Thomas met Enfield Town Manager Ed Morris at a tasting and started talking to him about the spaces that were available in town.

He added that it’s a cool lakeside community where “there are a lot of moving parts and a plan for the future,” Thomas said. He is also hoping to get walk-in traffic at the site.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, Degnan will ask the Planning Board to approve a “change of use permit” to allow “light manufacturing and restaurant activities” in the space, according to the application, as Thomas plans on brewing beer in the building in addition to offering food. Degnan is also requesting approval to allow outdoor seating on the site.

The tentative hours of operation are 3 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

If the application is approved, the plan is to open by May of 2025. According to Hoptimystic Brewing’s website, the company was started by Mike Boucher and Bill Waddell in Springfield, N.H., in 2020.

Dan and Kelly Thomas purchased the brewery in 2023.

They also have plans to open a location in Bow, N.H. According to an article published last month in the Concord Monitor, their plans for the spot were delayed after the New Hampshire Department of Transportation asked them to reconfigure the building’s driveway.

In recent years, Taylor said there has been a trend to convert commercial buildings into housing.

While he understands the need for housing, he has also heard from some residents who are concerned about losing the village’s business district.

“This will be a nice win for us if we can get a little brewery going in there,” he said.

Upper Valley Business Alliance Director Tracy Hutchins said that rail trails “are well known to be economic drivers,” and as a result, businesses can benefit from their proximity.

“I know Enfield has been working to position themselves as more of a destination community for visitors and I think having a brewery would be a great draw for people — both residents and visitors — to the region,” she said.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.