BELOIT, Wis. – A new owner has taken over a Rock County landmark, giving it a fresh life.

What You Need To Know

  • The Castle was built as a Presbyterian church in 1849

  • It was most recently owned by a music nonprofit

  • It was recently bought by Levi Andersen, who's rehabbing some of the features, and building a bar

The Castle is a former church turned multipurpose building: it’s an event venue, it has apartments, there’s art gallery space and can be used as a recording studio. No one sentence can sum up all its purposes.

“It’s unreal,” said Levi Andersen, The Castle’s new owner. He’s still finding hidden nooks and crannies of the 30,000 square foot building.

It started as a Presbyterian church in 1849. The sanctuary is still in tact, centered by an historic organ. It was most recently owned by a music nonprofit.

The previous owners were customers at Andersen’s bar. One night, they were telling him that they were selling The Castle, and deals had fallen through.

“I was like ‘I've been watching your building, I'm a big fan, and I'm done with my building in three and a half years of remodeling,'” Andersen said. “I need another project.”

His biggest undertaking so far has been building the bar, which is above the sanctuary, with huge stained glass windows in the back.

“This isn’t a sports bar, this isn’t a tropical-themed wedding destination,” Andersen said. “It’s very much, you’re in a church. How do we have that history and that respect translate into 2024?”

Across Rock County, there are people who took music lessons there, others have ancestors who were in the original congregation. There’s even one family of four generations who got married there. The community is invested in the project.

“I'm the general contractor, I'm the conductor, but really it is a pile of people's sweat,” Andersen said. “A pile of people dropping off paint they're not going to use, material and fabrics they're not going to use.”

Anderson said the building really belongs to Beloit.

“It’s beautiful, really, what’s happening with this space,” he said. “The community [is] showing up, and they want to be part of the next 100 years.”

The stained glass windows in the building were dedicated in April 1924. Andersen plans to have a celebration in April as an unofficial opening.