Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / A Carroll­town native says he wants to renovate the former monastery that housed Benedictine monks, possibly into a brewery.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / A Carroll­town native says he wants to renovate the former monastery that housed Benedictine monks, possibly into a brewery.

A former Carrolltown monastery that once housed Benedictine monks may soon have new occupants, as local entrepreneur Mike Ryan works to renovate the aging building.

If plans are fulfilled, it will be brewmeisters, travelers and diners who occupy the space.

“We want to bring life to the monastery,” said Ryan, a Carrolltown native who recently moved back to the area.

Ryan is working alongside a group of family members, hoping to turn the aging monastery off Oak Street into a brewery and craft beer destination, he said, pointing out a lack of similar businesses locally.

“We’re smack dab in the middle of a craft beer desert,” Ryan said.

Ryan and his partners took ownership of the property last November, but it has long played a role in the community.

Ryan remembered admiring the building as a child when he sledded down a nearby hill.

“It’s always been a part of my upbringing,” he said. “It’s also one of the oldest buildings in town.”

The monastery was built in 1865, serving as a center of missionary work for the Benedictine monks who lived within its walls, according to a website belonging to the local St. Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church.

From that base, the monks operated in Blair, Cambria, Centre and Clearfield counties, traveling long distances on horseback, according to the site.

In 1902, a fire damaged the building, and it was rebuilt to include many of the features it has today, Ryan said, noting monks worked from the monastery until 1965, when it was closed.

Since then, there have been attempts to develop the building — situated behind the Sheetz convenience store along Main Street. But Ryan said those attempts have been mostly unsuccessful.

He and his partners hope to be the exception. While Ryan revealed the brewery plans, he said specific details are still being worked out.

“We are doing the business planning and the market research to determine what would be the best use of the monastery,” he said. “We are certainly going to look at the full range of options.”

Possible uses include the addition of a brew-pub restaurant and bed-and-breakfast-style rooms in the building’s upper floor.

Ryan called the idea a B&B&B — bed-breakfast-and-brewery.

That’s a prospect that brings excitement to locals, including 92-year-old Ann Gavaler, who has lived in Carrolltown her entire life.

“I think since it’s a brewery it’s just fitting,” she said, pointing at the German, beer-swilling heritage of the community. “There were a lot of German settlers in Carrolltown.”

One of those Germans, Gavaler said, was the Rev. Peter Henry Lemke, the Catholic founder of both Carrolltown and St. Benedict’s Church.

Gavaler, an active member of the church, said she can remember watching the monks who occupied the monastery walking to the church to perform Masses.

“Especially in the winter time, it’s a little bit of a trek through the ice and snow,” she said, guessing that distance may have played a role in a relocation from the monastery to a rectory attached to the church.

“Since they left, the monastery has just been empty,” Gavaler said.

Ryan also talked about the community’s German roots, suggesting that heritage will be apparent if the brewery is completed.

Ryan, who has spent time in Germany, said he is even considering housing a classically trained German brewmeister to work at the site.

“I think it would be a good addition to the craft beer market to have that source of influence,” he said, pointing to successful foreign breweries often associated with Benedictine orders.

Renovations are already underway at the nearly 10,000-square-foot building, Ryan said.

Urgently needed repairs were the first to be addressed, he said, mentioning specifically work done to the building’s bell tower, which received new masonry work.

“The building, structurally, is very, very sound,” Ryan said. “The bell tower, since it’s higher, was subject to a lot of weather.

Ryan said he and his partners are currently looking at several sources of funding for their plans, and they hope to begin “serious renovations” by spring.

From there, they hope to host a soft opening in about 18 months, he said.

“People in northern Cambria County really like their beer,” Ryan said. “We are very excited to have this opportunity.”

Depending on the monestary’s final offerings, Ryan and his partners will have to secure one of several available licenses to conduct alcohol-related business.

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said early this week that no pending applications had been submitted for the monastic site, yet.

Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.