(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Hundreds of homes and businesses in Woodridge were damaged in the June 20 tornado, but Skeleton Key Brewery was completely destroyed.
“The further we get into this process, the more damage we discover,” co-owner Emily Slayton said Monday. “Roof joists are bent, and water is coming in places that it wasn't before, and there are just so many things compounding the damage which includes the rain that we keep getting.”
Slayton told WBBM Newsradio she was listening to the police scanner last weekend when the EF-3 tornado hit a group of western suburbs.
“I just heard this voice come across and it just said, ‘Severe structural damage, 8102 Lemont Road, Skeleton Key Brewery,’ and my heart dropped into my stomach.”
Thankfully, other local micro-breweries and community members came together to help Skeleton Key salvage their latest batch of beer.
“We moved all that stuff out of there in a matter of hours and got it over to Miskatonic Brewing, who are dear friends of ours,” Slayton said. “They let us set up on the side and they sold all the beer. We sold all the cans.”
With the beer saved, the focus quickly shifted to damage assessment and trying to rebuild.
Charolette Converse, who works at Mikerphone Brewing in Elk Grove Village, set up a GoFundMe page on behalf of Skeleton Key Brewery to help offset the cost of repairs.
So far, the campaign has raised more than $127,000.
“We just didn't even know what to do with that, like the emotional overload of having dealt with such a low, and then seeing people come out to support us in such huge numbers was so amazing,” Slayton said.
Skeleton Key Brewery is still unsure if and when it will be back up and running.
Related
