An indoor adventure park and a craft brewery have been unveiled as two key components that will transform the former Kellogg plant into what is being billed as a significant cultural, entertainment destination for London.
The first phase of the multi-year redevelopment and rebirth of 100 Kellogg Lane was announced Wednesday by property owner E. & E. McLaughlin Ltd., a family owned and operated Tillsonburg-based business, and Tourism London.
"We see it as an opportunity not only to create something unique but in a way give back to the city, as well as compliment everything else that is happening with the regeneration of Old East," said E. & E. McLaughlin spokesperson Kris Dinel
The adventure park, called The Factory, will span 170,000 sq ft and feature North America's largest indoor ropes course, with ziplines, a trampoline park, electric go karts, mini golf, escape rooms, virtual reality rooms, an arcade and a toddler soft play area.
General Manager and Partner of The Factory Dan Cassidy said as soon as he saw the open space within the old cereal plant, the potential for a fun, recreational zone popped into his head.
An artist's rendering of the outside of The Factory at 100 Kellogg.
Safety and security of children who visit the space is paramount to the London native, who was quick to tout the adventure area's state-of-the-art security check points.
"We are developing a system were everyone who comes into the facility gets a rubber wrist band that is RFID (radio frequency identification) and when they come in it tracks their entire day. But the most important part is that it tracks were you are in the building," said Cassidy. "We are going to have over 100 different check-in points, that allow you to scan and take a picture, scan to access a space but all along it will be tracking where you are in the building. As as a parent you will always know exactly where your children are."
Cassidy foresees the technology evolving to an app that will one day allow parents who aren't accompanying their children to the facility to get updates from home.
The first 27,000 sq ft of The Factory is scheduled to open in January.
Another addition to the former Kellogg plant will be a craft brewery.
Former London police officers Matthew and Kristin Buckley, who are also husband and wife, will expand their original craft brewery, located in Tobermory, with the addition of the Silverstacks Brewery. The 25 hectoliter, four vessel steam brewhouse will operate out of the old Powerhouse building. It will produce the new Silverstacks brand in addition to the original Tobermory Brewing Company beer.
"On December 5 all of our equipment is being delivered. What we are hoping is that the full brewery will be operational by the middle of January," said Buckley. "At that time we can start working on the tap house, start working on the sampling so that area will hopefully be opened up in the spring of 2018. People will be able to come in and buy retail and start doing tours of the facility."
Buckley said the London development is a big expansion opportunity for the brewery that opens a lot of doors that otherwise would have been closed to them.
"Now we can introduce a canning line, we can get into the LCBO and start selling to licensees . We have all of these licensees all over Ontario that do want to carry out Tobermory Brewing Company beer, the problem is we can't make it fast enough to get it to those outlets. With Silverstacks we now can," said Buckley.
An artist's rendering of the outside of 100 Kellogg.
As Phase 1 of the redevelopment moves forward, the search is on for tenants to fill the 90,000 sq ft of office space in the multiple level glass-faced office tower.
Selling points for potential tenants include a private entrance, free parking and a view of the downtown.
The economic benefits of the massive redevelopment of the 23 acre property remain to be seen, but Dinel is confident it will be significant.
"Phase 1 from an employment standpoint, you're looking The Factory hiring 15 full time employees, and roughly 60 part time. Silverstacks will have another four or five full time and some part time people," said Dinel. "Measuring that economic impact is to be determined from all the visitors coming. But from an employment standpoint it is new job creation for the city."
With the adventure park, brewery, and office space taking up only half of the facility, two more phases of the urban regeneration project are expected to be announced. An exact time line for that is not known, but phase II could be unveiled as soon as 2018.