Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee will play a large part in the upcoming Republican National Convention, to be held July 15 to July 18, as the business plans to host at least five state GOP delegations. The company is still awaiting the possibility of additional bookings.
“We might have a couple more, but deposits haven’t come through on those two,” said
Russ Klisch, owner and president of Lakefront Brewery.
He declined to specify which state delegations will be hosting events at Lakefront Brewery.
Lakefront worked closely with the RNC Host Committee to secure its bookings, said Klisch. The venue was one of several listed through
an online directory of nearly 700 local businesses.
State delegations began touring Lakefront’s space about two months ago, which was later than the original anticipated timeline of last December, said Klisch.
“It works out. It’s plenty of time for us,” he said. “The original (timeline for bookings) was around Christmas, maybe before then. They had to do a lot of other planning. I was told a big part of it was hotels. They had to figure out which delegation was going to which hotel.”
Lakefront Brewery makes sense as a venue for these delegations because of its “real Milwaukee feel,” said Klisch.
“People who come here say it’s part of Milwaukee. It’s an old industrial building and brewery…the cream city brick… we’re on the river,” he said. “All those factors tie into a hometown feel instead of something you might get in a hotel ballroom.”
Lakefront has enough staff to handle all of its RNC-related events, so the business is focused on stocking up on food and beverage supplies to support the large number of guests expected to come through in a matter of days.
Lakefront will be closed for most of the week during the RNC, but Klisch said there is the possibility the brewery could open Sunday and Monday.
“This is along the lines of my expectations. We’re kind of built for this,” said Klisch. “Some events that might come to town, we’re not built for and so we get passed up. Not everyone gets the perfect event for their venue.”
