Change is afoot at Toronto’s harbourfront as Pier4 Restaurant and Wallymagoos pub will close after 35 years of business and Amsterdam Brewery moves in. After vacating their digs at Bathurst and Lakeshore, Amsterdam’s new waterfront brew pub will feature a 900-seat restaurant and retail store, the brewery announced. The prime real estate should draw a blend of tourists and Torontonians to enjoy the waterfront patio, beer-infused menu and a specialty selection of craft beers when the pub opens in May 2013.

Along with its waterfront expansion, Amsterdam Brewery will be opening a second facility in Leaside to accommodate the growth of the Amsterdam family. The new space, located at 45 Esander Drive and will feature a 40 x 10 foot glass wall to give shoppers hunting for their favourite Amsterdam beer a clear view into the brew house. The location is also equipped with a 2000 square foot space which will play host to a variety of beer dinners, corporate bookings, Brew Master seminars and weekly casking events. Customers will also have the option of sampling from more than 10 “made fresh daily” beers on tap while they tour the facility. The new brewery will officially open on November 1st.

Unfortunately, as the Amsterdam family grows, the owner of Pier4 Restaurant and Wallymagoos pub, Walter Oster, and his team of 110 employees, have found themselves out of work. After being unable to pay the $1.5 million Harbourfront Centre asked him to invest in a “new concept” as a condition in the renewal of his lease, Oster suggested an audit by the federal government. He estimates the Harbourfront Corp. receives an “annual $5-million federal subsidy” of which he said he hasn’t seen “one penny” for capital improvements. In a sympathetic piece in The Toronto Sun, Joe “even-keeled” Warmington cried foul asking why “semi-successful art studios with grants and subsidies are staying while a hard-working capitalist guy who employs people without taxpayer’s help is essentially getting the boot? I thought we were not communist here?” Warmington, despite his bizarre McCarthyist ramblings, seems to be advocating for a sole-source deal for Oster, something The Sun has railed against in the past.

Jeff Carefoote, Owner and Operator of the Amsterdam Brewery seemed unaffected by the Sun’s hypocrisy regarding his new real estate. He stated: “We hope that through reflecting on our history and continuing our passion for authenticity, the Brew Pub will become a destination for the people of Toronto and it’s visitors.”

–With files from Claudia McNeilly

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Michael Kolberg is The Sprawl Editor at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter for jokes @mikeykolberg

Claudia McNeilly is an editorial intern at the Toronto Standard. You can follow her on twitter at @claudiamcneilly

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