Steel Toes to Stilettos: The evolution of The Plant, aka Chatham Beverage District

The long-awaited grand re-opening of The Plant is coming up on Wednesday, June 15, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Pittsboro.

With the theme “Steel Toes To Stilettos,” there will be festivities that include a ribbon cutting by Pittsboro’s mayor, awards, tunes by DJ OS and lots of dancing on the new pavers recently installed to enhance visitor experience.

Paperhand Puppets will get the party started with a parade. Lilly Den Food Truck will be open, and beverages will be available from Fair Game Beverage, bmc brewing, Chatham Cider Works and Starrlight Meadery. Denizens of The Plant will also be open for the event.

Depending on who you ask, the 17-acre property at 220 Lorax Lane in Pittsboro anchored by Cold War style thick concrete buildings is called The Plant or Chatham Beverage District; some still refer to it as the old bio-diesel place.

Whatever the name, the radically redeveloped complex is emerging as the "go-to" venue for crafted beverages, farm-to-table eats, artisan goods, music, art, special events, workshops and meetings. The unique setting can be described as laid-back and natural with an “industrial chic” look. The Plant lies within comfortable distances from all around the Triangle region.

Plus, the property, with its spacious landscape and wooded trails, lends itself to simply gathering with friends to enjoy the outdoors, walk their dogs or ride bikes and learn a lot about trees and birds. A one-and-one-half-acre growing area is occupied by Copeland Springs Farm.

Tami Schwerin and Lyle Estill are the co-founders of The Plant, described as an eco-industrial park. They both refer to themselves as “creators of experiences.” Their son, Arlo, has joined in the management of the operation.

Lyle is the force behind Fair Game Beverage Company, the cornerstone business of The Plant – a tasting room, distillery, snack and bottle shop offering some of the oldest barrel aged spirits in the region as well as craft beers, North Carolina wines and ciders and specialty food products. Patrons can now dine in at Fair Game.

Arlo, a graduate from N.C. State University in textiles, is carrying out a mission to help spark a restorative economy through the versatility, sustainability and strength of hemp textile production in North Carolina. His company, Hempsmith Clothing, located next door to Fair Game, sells stylish clothing made from the wonder plant.

“In all our pursuits here, we’ve been committed to a restorative local economy utilizing North Carolina-grown ingredients and products,” says Lyle Estill. “That’s a big touchstone for The Plant.”

“My vision is that it is a place for local economy,” says Tami Schwerin. “We’re strict about what businesses come in. There’s no fast food. We work with like-minded, local, small businesses and farms as much as possible.”

The Plant is home to close to 20 diverse businesses which provide a wide variety of products and services including several food and dining options, craft beverages, coffee roasting, hemp clothing and CBD products, jewelry, art, electric bike rentals, axe-throwing and safe and sustainable weed and pest control products.

“Tenants here are making something but not commodities,” says Lyle. “The Hemp store is doing work by hand, embroidering the hat; not like you’re going to Old Navy. Everyone is involved in craft or artisan manufacturing.”

On the beverage side of things, there’s Fair Game Beverage Company, bmc brewing company, Starrlight Mead, Chatham Cider Works, Metal Brixx Café, Vortex Roasters, Vita Mielie and soon, The Den Deli. Visitors cannot go thirsty here. Hunger is also well-sated here with vegetarian, vegan and meat options.

“Essentially, The Plant is a food hall with different beverage companies,” says Lyle, explaining the role of the Chatham Beverage District. Tasting rooms encourage visitors to try new offerings.

Both Tami and Lyle are veteran makers and collectors of art. The Plant’s outdoor art walk displays 30 locally-made art pieces. The Smelt Art Gallery, a non-conventional art gallery, resides at The Plant within the hallway of an old smelting plant beside bmc brewing. The works of mixed-media artist, Claire Alexandre, will be on display through July 31.

One of the buildings, known as Building #2, formerly used for the bio-diesel operation, has been converted to a theater.

On Thursday afternoons from 3 to 6 p.m., visitors to The Plant will find the Pittsboro Farmers Market underway. The well-established market changed its location in June and offers a wide variety of produce, flowers, fresh seafood, eggs, sustainably and ethically-raised meats, hemp products (CBD), prepared food, crafts and more.

“It’s beneficial for the market and The Plant because people can shop at the market and also stop off to get a beer or other beverage, walk around to other businesses and enjoy the property,” says Tami.

Birthday parties, weddings and funerals find unique, creative settings on the property from which to celebrate life.

The Plant welcomes RV rigs through the Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome networks. RVers can settle down for a night and enjoy all the property offers in food, beverage and entertainment.

Two service organizations currently reside at The Plant: Abundance NC, started by Tami in 2005, which now focuses on local food, putting on the annual Pepper Festival, the annual Death Faire and organizing a monthly grief circle event; and Webb Squared, an organization established to empower Black entrepreneurs.

Meet some denizens of The Plant

Kristin Bulpitt, owner of Copeland Springs Farm & Kitchen, moved her farm to The Plant in 2018 and opened the dining establishment in 2019. She farms, manages and cooks.

The farm, which is committed to environmentally sustainable practices, supplies the kitchen with a wide assortment of vegetables and mushrooms. The counter-service kitchen offers small plates, quiche, greens and grains bowls, wraps, sammies and sweets.

“It’s unlike any other place in Chatham County,” says Kristin. “People can walk out and see what’s growing and eat it five minutes later. It’s farm-to-table in the truest sense.” The farm also supplies fresh vegetables through Community Supported Agriculture.

Kalim Hasan is the owner, CEO and president of several businesses at The Plant where he’s been operating since 2019: Carolina Hemp Tours, Chatham Axes, Metal Brixx Café and Pittsboro e-Bikes. Kalim owns two brands inside of Chatham Hemp Tours which focus on agritourism across North Carolina. The café serves cake jars and candy apples and sells cake and canning jars made of glass.

Visitors can relieve tension by picking up some axe-throwing skills or rent an electric bike and tour the area. “I wanted to be on the cusp of the growing diversity in this area,” says Kalim. “We’re all building our brands here at The Plant. It’s amazing to be surrounded by smart people who don’t mind explaining who they are and what they do – a great sense of community.”

Mackenzie and Tucker Withington started farming Lilly Den Farm in Goldston in 2008. Two months ago they brought their “Meats & Eats” Food Truck to its permanent home at The Plant. They expect to open a dine-in deli named The Den next month.

The food truck, which has its own commissary kitchen, allows customers to ‘build-their-own’ meals including rice bowls, salads, sandwiches and something sweet. Loaded French fries are a big hit. The Den Deli will feature a beautiful bar and serve beer, wine, uber local food and Lilly Den Farm meat and dairy products.

“The great thing about The Plant is that people can buy from anywhere and eat anywhere on the property,” says Mackenzie. “We fit in with businesses that were already here. I feel like I hit a goldmine – they want us here and that is priceless; they want us to succeed.

Steel toes to stilettos - a long and fascinating history

The land now occupied by The Plant was once part of a huge flower farm known as Sunshine Gardens, which operated from the 1940s. Once the largest flower farm in the United States, it was famous for growing “football” chrysanthemums. In 1961, it provided flowers for the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.

Inco Alloys acquired the land in the late 1980s with a mission to secretly develop a new type of aluminum alloy suitable for Cold War military uses. For a time, Inco made metal pieces for fighter jets. The company’s prospects were ruined when the Soviet Union collapsed, signaling the end of the Cold War. Leaving behind four massive concrete buildings locked behind a twelve-foot, barbed wire fence equipped with cameras, the company abandoned the property and it sat vacant for the next decade.

Lyle Estill, Tami Schwerin and Lyle’s late brother, Mark Estill, bought the property in 2005. The family group wanted to establish a sustainable industrial plant to produce bio-fuels.

“We wanted to make enough fuel to power our little town,” says Lyle.

Piedmont Bio-Fuels, as it was called, was successful in buying up fats and greases from all over town and processing them into fuel that would be sold to customers such as municipalities and Departments of Transportation and Education for school buses, city buses and trains. The owners dubbed the property The Plant and simultaneously took on tenants, grew food, planted native species and hosted events.

In the end, however, Piedmont Bio-Fuels, which produced one-million gallons per year, could not compete with huge corporations in the industry.

Next came Fair Game Beverage in 2013, which has become a destination business for The Plant. Tami and Lyle have never had a problem attracting tenant businesses to the property and numerous businesses have been launched, some with successes that have landed them in bigger markets.

“Poison Ivy and possums and abandoned buildings are what were here when we bought it,” says Lyle. “We turned it into an industrial plant and invited others to do business here. We reinvented it to become a complex for craft beverages and artisan businesses."

The Plant has grown exponentially and is highly successful in nurturing the local economy and community.

“Now, instead of steel toed work boots, instead of filling up eighteen-wheelers with fuel, we’re filling up bottles of beverages and seeing people walk around in their stilettos carrying shopping bags,” says Lyle.

Find more information about The Plant, its businesses, venues and events or browse through the Art Walk.