Windsor taphouse with self-pour beer wall closes after nearly a year
A Windsor restaurant known for its rooftop bar and self-pour beer wall has closed after nearly a year in business.
Howlers & Growlers, 1246 Automation Drive, shuttered Sept. 6, according to co-owner Amy Lowther, who attributed the closure to the restaurant's delayed opening, staffing issues and a summer of nearby road closures.
The eatery opened in November, boasting a menu of appetizers, entrees and brunch items as well as a 26-tap self-pour beer wall where of-age diners could use scannable cards to pour their own tasters or full pints of beer.
While initially hoping for a late August or September debut, construction delays pushed the eatery's opening to November, which Lowther said is not an ideal time to open a restaurant.
After some initial staffing issues, "we thought everything would recover and be great," she said, adding that she and her husband, Alan Lowther, had high hopes for the business given its proximity to Windsor's Future Legends Sports Complex.
Despite some delays, the long-awaited complex has been hosting indoor and outdoor sports this year and is set to complete its 6,500-person stadium — home of the Northern Colorado Owlz, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC and a to-be-named USL W League women's soccer team — next spring.
"We thought the stadium was opening and we’d get a lot of business from that," Lowther said. "Then they shut down our road for two months."
A Colorado Department of Transportation resurfacing project along Colorado Highway 257 and the town of Windsor's intersection safety improvement project at Eastman Park Drive and Highway 257 converged earlier this summer, resulting in closures of main access points to the restaurant and its neighboring businesses.
The CDOT project began in late May and caused rolling highway closures that culminated in a full 30-day closure of Colorado 257 from Walnut Street to Eastman Park Drive, requiring significant detours through most of July, the town of Windsor confirmed Friday.
The town's roadwork project halted east and west travel on Eastman Park Drive starting in mid-June. That closure is expected to continue until around Sept. 25 as work is completed on new traffic signals and improvements to a nearby railroad crossing, per the town. A temporary road was built to allow traffic on Eastman Park Drive between Eastman Park and Automation Drives during the closure.
More: Windsor businesses struggle, close amid 'perfect storm' of summer road closures
While Lowther was hoping this summer would be a time to recoup lost revenue, the roadwork projects caused detours of up to 14 miles for her customers, she said.
Lowther said the final blow came when she received a Sept. 5 notice from the town of Windsor that Howlers & Growlers' liquor license was set to expire that same day. Lowther later clarified that she also received an automated email about the liquor license expiration on Aug. 29.
The town said automatic notifications about Howler's & Growlers' liquor license expiration date were sent to the restaurant four times starting Aug. 18, according to Windsor's acting communications manager, McKenzie Paine.
These notifications are not required by law and are sent as a courtesy to Windsor businesses, Paine said.
Colorado's state liquor licensing department is required to notify establishments at least 90 days before their liquor license expires, according to the state. A representative from the department confirmed it did send the required notification to the address on record for Howler's & Growlers' license holder. Lowther said the restaurant received nothing from the state.
Lowther said she decided to close the eatery after learning of its liquor license expiration, but that it was just "icing on the cake" after the business's series of construction delays, staffing issues and recent road closures.
"I'm just done with this," she said. "It was just one thing after another."
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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Windsor taphouse with self-pour beer wall closes after nearly a year
