Microbrewery is planned in formerly ‘dry’ Moorestown
King’s Road Brewing Co. and Rowan College are partners in the new pub and teaching space for students interested in brewing science.
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The first-ever microbrewery in the heart of Moorestown — and the first in New Jersey with an educational element — will replace the long-dormant Community House swimming pool on East Main Street.
The nonprofit owner of the century-old downtown landmark, as well as Rowan College at Burlington County and the King’s Road Brewing Co., announced their partnership Thursday at the Community House.
The project will cost between $1 million and $2 million. The brewery and brewpub, along with a separate teaching area with smaller-scale brewing equipment, are expected to open late next year or in early 2026.
“We’re here to announce plans to leverage [our] presence and launch a major initiative to benefit Moorestown and Burlington County,” said Haynes Hendrickson, vice president of the nonprofit’s board.
Having the brewery and the college as tenants also will help sustain the Community House. Hendrickson described the partnership as the first of its kind in the state and the backdrop for “generations of memories” among local residents.
“We all agree there’s no better place location to stimulate the economic growth of Main Street than Community House,” he said.
The proposal has been under discussion since the township council approved an ordinance allowing breweries, distilleries, and wine tasting rooms downtown in 2021.
Alcoholic beverage sales had been prohibited in Moorestown since 1915. Lift-the-ban ballot measures failed in 1935, 1953, and 2007. In 2011, a referendum to permit sales in and around the Moorestown Mall was approved.
About 30 municipalities statewide, most of them in South Jersey, still prohibit all or most alcohol sales, although many such communities, including Haddonfield and Collingswood, have microbreweries.
“Our brand fits [Moorestown] for so many reasons,” Bob Hochgertel, co-owner of King’s Road, said during Thursday’s event.
His company has locations in Medford and Haddonfield, where King’s Road has had what he described as a “robust” impact on foot traffic and business.
The company was founded in 2016 by Hochgertel and four friends. Their Haddonfield brewery and tasting room was the site of the borough’s first legal beer sale since 1873.
If a curriculum now under development is approved by the college and the state, an associate’s degree program could be in place in fall 2025, said Michael A. Cioce, president of Rowan College at Burlington County. A certificate program based on existing courses could begin this coming fall ahead of the approval of the brewing-focused curriculum, he said.
“Are there students interested in knowing more about brewing science? Yes. Are there jobs at the other side of this degree? Yes,” Cioce said. “We’re eager to start recruiting our inaugural class.”
The Community House, built in 1926, was largely paid for by a $250,000 donation from Moorestown resident Eldridge Johnson — founder of Camden’s Victor Talking Machine Co. — as well as a fundraising effort by the Moorestown Women’s Club. It’s now used for weddings, corporate, social, and community events.
“It holds a special place in the hearts of residents of Moorestown,” Mayor Nicole Gillespie said. “It’s a beautiful building. Many people have been married here, people learned to swim here, and to this unique idea happening in this beautiful place — we could not ask for better.”