SHAMOKIN -- A man from Atlas brought new life into an old fire station in Shamokin. He turned the empty building into a winery which opens Friday evening.
Looking at the building on Sunbury Street in Shamokin from the outside, it's pretty clear it used to be a fire company. But Rick Long of Atlas had an idea to turn it into a winery and now his dream has come true.
"Decided, yeah, what better place would be to put a winery than in an old firehouse? That's how we came up with the name Firehouse Winery," said Long.
This used to be the Liberty Hose Company. The Liberty Hose Company now operates out of a different building in Shamokin.
Long bought the vacant building from the city of Shamokin in January and now it's opening as a winery.
"I really think the area's going to appreciate a restaurant like this and because of the locality of it, you won't really need to go out of town now to have a nice glass of wine, something good to eat," said bartender Cara Goffi.
"Somewhere to hang out, unwind after a long week and a long day," added Long.
The Firehouse Winery offers craft beer, light food, and nine different kinds of wine for $13 a bottle.
"We have everything from a cabernet sauvignon, a chianti, something dry for people who have a palette for something like that, all the way to a Niagara, which is really sweet," Goffi explained.
The upstairs part of the winery is almost finished and it will be available to rent for private parties.
The winery has a parking lot in the back and a patio which will be open when it gets warmer.
The Firehouse Winery will be open Wednesday through Saturday and will have entertainment on the weekends.