BRIDGMAN, MI — Tapistry Brewing Co. opening its doors in Bridgman in mid-July means more than just brews on the beach for this quaint town along Lake Michigan.

The microbrewery has become the cornerstone of Bridgman’s economic redevelopment plans, according to its city manager.

Despite the town’s population doubling during the summer due to beach activity, Bridgman’s downtown is not as strong as it could be.

However, the prospect of the microbrewery has locals hopeful for some substantial change.

Joe Rudnick, a 39-year-old engineer and homebrewer living in Mattawan, and Greg Korson, a 45-year-old accountant living in St. Joseph, said goodbye to their 9-to-5 jobs at Pfizer Inc. to open a microbrewery on Lake Street in Bridgman, the main road leading to Weko Beach, next month.

“It’s natural to talk about tourism as a place with access to the lake, a 70-site campground and a small boat launch, but the (Lake Street) strip is underused,” said Aaron Anthony, Bridgman’s city manager of 17 years. “We see (the microbrewery) as a cornerstone of the redevelopment of downtown because it’s caused a stir already in the sense that we have had two other buildings change hands with proposed developments along Lake Street.”

The brewery is nearly finished and is set to open in mid-July.

Tapistry Brewing is now distributing eight different beers with Bud Distributing and Imperial Beverage. Bartenders at The Buck in St. Joseph are already pulling a crystal-ball-crowned beer tap handle to serve Tapistry beers.

The brewery occupies two storefronts, one for its 4,300-square-foot production site, which features a 15-barrel system and 15- and 30-barrel fermenting tanks. An 1,800-square-foot taproom will seat about 80 people and eventually feature up to 20 beers and sandwiches next door. The owners expect to hire four to six people for the tap house.

They are also building a beer garden off the side of the building, which faces the corner of Maple Street and Lake Street, for picnic table seating.

Anthony was taking bids on June 26 from firms looking to redesign that portion of Maple Street. He said the city plans to install street pavers and a storm water drain for a pedestrian walkway, which will be especially visible from the beer garden.

“Economic development is changing in the sense that towns our size can’t really expect that 300-job factory is coming by,” Anthony said. “

Even as this juncture (the microbrewery) has been a positive influence on development downtown for the city, w

e need to practice an approach that works.”

For a place like Bridgman, maximizing on tourism opportunities is what could work, he said.

Bridgman, a city with a population of about 2,300 people, has a large contingent of second-home owners who purchase property off the shore, near Weko Beach and Warren Dunes State Park, which draw in thousands of visitors every year.

City officials from neighboring Baroda, Oronoko Township, Berrien Springs and Lake Township teamed up to spur economic development, based around tourism, a few years ago after losing hundreds of jobs during the recession.

Some fruits of the collaboration include a signage campaign, designed to help tourists navigate the area. Bridgman has also invested $4 million in street renovations, including a $1 million Maple Street renovation, over the past four years but they saw little reduction in storefront vacancies, Anthony said.

The city also began employing revolving loan funds and commercial tax abatement districts to give new businesses more leverage.

Tapistry received a $40,000 grant from the city from its revolving loan program and the USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant in February to assist in renovating the brewery, which was formerly a hardware store. The funds were also used to renovate the adjacent buildings, as well.

Since news of the microbrewery opening, Anthony has been working with a tenant who plans to open a new restaurant near the microbrewery, and an interior design boutique is planning to set up shop across the street. The Sandpiper Flowers and Gifts also reopened its doors.

Anthony hopes the downtown action spurs other plans still in the concept stage, specifically the redevelopment of Interstate 94 Exit 16, along Red Arrow Highway.

City blueprints, approved by the city council in 2012 for marketing purposes, calls for the relocation of a car dealership and the development of a hotel at an old truck stop at Exit 16, a major tourist gateway to city.

Anthony said Dominion Chevrolet, which is currently occupying one corner of the last storefront intersection before arriving at Weko Beach, plans to relocate but the city is still looking for a developer that can bring a hotel to the area.

The city envisions a $10 to $12-million, mixed-use residential and storefront building to replace the dealership.

He said the area is in need of a hotel and expects that demand would grow with tourist attractions, such as a brewery, and if plans to build a $17 million private expo and equestrian arena come to fruition in Berrien Springs.

The EXPO Arena at the Berrien County Youth Fair project , which has raised $4.2 million, would feature a 500-stall stable and a 4,000 to 7,000-seat entertainment venue.

Rudnick and Korson said they chose to build a microbrewery in Bridgman because they were impressed with local revitalization efforts.

Overwhelming community support from anxious customers, who often stop by to check on their progress, has been reaffirming to them as well, Korson said.

“Our No. 1 goal is to make this downtown thrive,” Rudnick said. “They’ve been talking for a while about getting a business in here that will bring other people to create more of a tourist attraction of the area and we want to complement that.”

“Lake Street is the road into the wineries," Rudnick said. "We are on a wine trail, and we are trying to create a beer trail. There are enough breweries around here for more than one stop."

Contact Ursula Zerilli at uzerilli@mlive.com. Follow her on twitter.