ANAHEIM, Calif. – Modern Times Beer's Leisuretown, a beer garden with a swimming pool, has closed after two tumultuous years.
Modern Times closed the craft brewery restaurant near downtown Anaheim this past weekend.
"It is with the most heartfelt regret that we announce that Leisuretown will be closing its doors for good," an official from Modern Times Beer wrote on its social media platform last week. "It has been an incredible, joyous, heartbreaking, life-affirming journey, and — even though we are deeply saddened to see it end — we cannot thank you enough for being part of it. This is a hard day, but we're not done. Not by a long shot. More to come."
Modern Times' closure of Leisuretown caps off two problem-filled years for the San Diego-based craft brewery company.
In the past couple of years, the company, which opened in 2013, had to navigate through the pandemic's challenges before dealing with its CEO's resignation after women began sharing their "Me Too" experience of sexual harassment in the brewery industry.
Last year, Jacob McKean, the founder and CEO of Modern Times, resigned after employees, primarily women, claimed widespread sexism and sexual misconduct in the company.
McKean apologized in a blog post on the company's website and vowed to make changes before stepping down.
"I'm sorry that anyone has ever had to face harassment at Modern Times," McKean wrote. "No one should ever have to be traumatized at work, and it guts me that people have under my watch. I take full responsibility for that."
Facing financial challenges, Modern Times also was forced into a court-ordered receivership sale where a new owner swooped in to buy the company. Maui Beer Co. acquired Modern Times.
Anaheim was among several Modern Times locations that shuttered in recent months. A Modern Times spokesperson did not return a Spectrum News message for comment.
Leisuretown opened in Sept. 2020 to much fanfare.
The 33,000-square-foot location was half brewery and half restaurant. The site featured a mid-century design, an outdoor courtyard, a curated botanical garden, old shipping containers, and a 45-foot-long, four-foot-deep pool along the side of the brewery.
It is unclear what will happen to the location now that Modern Times has vacated the premises.
"Modern Times enjoyed an energetic tenure at our LeisureTown property in Anaheim and we regret that covid did not treat them well," said Linda Sadeghi, owner and operator of Lab Holdings, in a statement to Spectrum News. "We of the Lab team wish them the best in their new iteration."
"In the meantime, we are interviewing/screening an amazing array of new generation breweries for this prime location in the heart of the Packing District and look forward to an announcement soon," she added. "The restored craftsman house, originally part of the Modern Times project, will become a freestanding space with community dining and more. Hope to pass along more details in the coming weeks."