An old brick mill that once made specialty paper for Crane & Co. has been renovated into space for arts and small businesses. It has a mainstage with professional sound and lighting, and often hosts live music on Saturday nights.
Gallery space holds rotating exhibits including the Atlas of Humanity, an international traveling exhibit of photographs of people from across the world, and abstract landscapes in vivid colors by Berkshire artist Scott Taylor.
On the ground floor, two local microbrewers, Andrew Crane and Nick Whalen have built the Shire Breu-House, a local restaurant and microbrewery with more than a dozen seasonal beers and ales on tap. Many of them are made in house. Andrew is an engineer, and Crane is a photojournalist — and together they create brews like The Facts As I See Them — “Golden ale fermented w/ Belgian yeast & Brett, refermented on local raspberries from Black Bear Farm, Savoy.”
Around the corner from them, Silver Bear Distillerydistills their own Vodka from wheat and makes their own maple and raspberry liqueurs.
Currency Coffee Company, offers roasts and blends of coffee and tea named for Dalton’s best-known product — for decades, Crane & Company has made paper for the U.S. mint in town.
