A TIME CAPSULE IS ‘BREWING’ IN BENICIA
Mare Island Brewing Co. co-founders asking public for items to be placed in large cistern
There is no DeLorean, no Flux Capacitor and no crazy mad scientist named Doc Brown associated with Mare Island Brewing Co.
That being said the co-founders of the company have decided to go back to the future.
When Kent Fortner and Ryan Gibbons began remodeling their new Benicia location at 440 First Street, they discovered a large cistern (an historic waterholding tank) under the building. To celebrate the eventual opening of Mare Island Brewing Co.’s newest venue, the coowners have decided to turn the cistern into a time capsule to commemorate the uniqueness of 2020 and 2021 with the intent to reopen the time capsule in 2031 (at the earliest).
“We’re super historic minded,” Fortner said of himself and Gibbons. “We’ve restored a coal shed in the past and we love these type of situations.
But what do we do? Do we make it into a wine cellar? Do we store kegs down there? The logistics and building codes made it impossible for that so we thought, ‘Why not make it a time capsule?'”
The co-founders, along with the contractor, discovered the cistern when building a handicapped bathroom for the bar and restaurant.
“We were digging underneath this Victorian house, which is no small feat,” Fortner said. “Everything in Benicia seems to sit on sandstone but then saw this rotted piece of plywood on the ground. The contractor kicked it and when doing that he almost fell in the cylinder.”
The cistern is large and stands in at 10 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep.
Fortner and Gibbons asked around and talked to the building’s old owners and discovered it had to be in place before the site was built over it in 1890. It was dug by hand out of the sandstone that underlies the building and was reinforced with a ring of concrete, then a ring of brick, then a ring of interior plaster.
It was completely empty when it was rediscovered during the renovation, save for a remnant of the old “fill pipe,” likely bringing rainwater down from the roof, and an old rusted-out bucket.
“We did some research and in the last few hours discovered that in this very location in 1890 was a Chinese laundry,” Fortner said. “Whether or not the cistern was for the laundry we don’t know. The former owners of the building didn’t know anything about it, so this goes back a long ways.”
This isn’t the first time Fortner has been involved with a time capsule. When he was in seventh grade (1983) he did one with his classmates and wrote a letter to himself. In 2011, nearly 30 years later, he was able to see once again what he had written.
“Yeah I retrieved it about 10 years ago and it was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” Fortner said. “It was cool to realize that I still have my best friend from when I was in seventh grade. I wrote down some of the biggest music hits people were listening to back then like Michael Jackson, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.”
Well, time after time, Fortner is asked when the new venue in Benicia is going to open so he thought doing this capsule would help. Fortner said the site is 90 percent done, but they are still waiting until Benicia is back in the yellow (minimal) tier for them to have a grand opening.
In the meantime, the capsule is a way for locals to get excited about that date, as well as another one ten years from now. The First Street Taphouse will be Mare Island Brewing Co.’s third physical location, which includes the Ferry Taphouse at the Vallejo Ferry Building and their Coal Shed Brewery on Mare Island.
“This is a way to engage Benicia since so many people are asking us when we are going to open,” Fortner said. “Let’s do this because here is a chance to seal away memories. We’re going to have a bathroom over it while you are ‘sitting on the throne’ so to speak, you’ll be able to read a sign that says something like, ‘Here lies a time capsule made in 2021.’
Mare Island Brewing Co. has put up a sign in the window telling citizens about the time capsule, as well as a ceremony that will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 6. The company is asking citizens to bring potential items such as a creative work (painting, poem, letter to themselves or future generations), printed photos, as well as an article, magazine or document that sums up 2020 and 2021. Other items could include a memento to commemorate someone lost or someone they grew up with in 2020/21 or an item that helped one get through this time period.
Submissions should be smaller than a sixpack, and as a reminder, since they will someday be shared with the public, people are urged not to include anything they wouldn’t want public in 10 plus years. Mare Island Brewing Co. will pack these submissions into waterproof army-surplus ammo boxes for sealing in the cistern. Mare Island Brewing Co. will also put at least one beer of their new 30 beers in a box.
Once the time capsule is full, the cistern will be marked with a hatch and commemorative place placed in the restroom and reopened in no sooner than 10 year’s time. Fortner said that he’s seen around 100 people looking at the sign each day.
“Even if we only get about 20 people to contribute, it will still be exciting,” Fortner said. “We’ve asked the fire department, local schools, the library and the museum to be involved. The former owners of the building are also contributing. We’re also trying to get the staff involved and for them to bring something. Hopefully we can still be doing well in 10 years and we’ll be able to reopen the cistern. I think it’s good and fun to be thinking long term. People need an outlet to remember but also put behind us all the travails we went through.”