Developer kills $1.2M downtown Caro project

Entrepreneur and Caro native Scott Romain has taken his plans for a rum microdistillery/restaurant in downtown Caro off the table – along with the $1.2 million investment it represented.
Romain made the move Wednesday, about 30 minutes into an ad hoc committee meeting in Caro about his idea for Thumb Rum & Brew (a rum microdistillery) and associated restaurant, The Destination.
Committee members were Mike Henry, pro-tem mayor, Caro City Councilman Joe Greene, Richard Lipan, Brian Rickwalt, Caro Fire Department Chief Randy Heckroth, and Scott Romain.
The committee was holding its first meeting exactly one month after the Caro City Council voted 5-2 against recommending the project receive the necessary liquor licenses from the state because it was too close to a church (though council members subsequently backtracked to say there were “other reasons” and they were “forced” to vote).
Wednesday’s meeting didn’t last long.
“I’d like to make a motion to dissolve this committee and stop the project,” Romain said. “I appreciate everyone’s time, I appreciate all the thought and effort that was put in here, I apologize for the shortcomings I had coming in, I wish I had more information for you, but I am canceling the project.” (Read more)

(This story originally appeared in the Oct. 22, 2016 print edition of The Tuscola County Advertiser and can be read online in its entirety here.)