With everything that’s happened at Ivywild School in the decade since Bristol Brewing Co. opened inside the century-old former Colorado Springs elementary, it’s easy enough to forget the project is still, technically, a work in progress.

“When we started this project back in 2010, we knew that it was going to evolve over time,” said Mike Bristol, who founded the iconic Springs brewery in 1994 with his wife, Amanda. “The first goal always was, let’s get the main building renovated, let’s build the packaging hall, and let’s get up and running, find stable tenants and really fine tune everything.”

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That they did, filling up the space with a quirky chorus of shops, eateries and watering holes, including the award-winning Axe and The Oak Whiskey House and distillery, anchor Bristol Pub and a recently-completed barrel room on the ground floor.

The outdoor space — roughly 25,000 square feet containing a T-shaped entrance road and two big plots of earth east of the school’s main entrance — took a bit longer to find its perfect pitch.

Call it a “beer garden” if you must. To them, it will be the Playground at Ivywild School.

“The term beer garden means so many different things to different people,” Bristol said. “It will be a place for people to gather and have a beer, yes, but it’s not just about beer. It’s about being with your neighbors and hanging out.”

Long-term development plans for the outdoor area originally included constructing buildings on the school’s east side, Bristol said.

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“It’s funny, you plan something and then once you see how people use a space and what happens in the neighborhood … we scrapped that idea,” he said.

COVID wasn’t the main motivator for a design pivot, but it informed the vision now heading for a grand opening (hopefully) next month in the northeast portion of the Ivywild property, around an existing large-scale public installation created by local artist Bob Tudor.

“We just wanted to create some more outdoor community space,” Bristol said. “In Colorado, people just love to be outside, and drinking beer outside, so that will build on what we’ve already got going, with the great patios that we already have.”

The Playground will feature a soaring gazebo structure over multiple fire pits, landscaping, collections of picnic tables, Adirondack chairs, and — if more challenging seating is what you crave — several boulders that can serve as “impromptu” gathering spots, Bristol said.

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Bristol’s Spark Beer + BBQ, operated out of a shipping container on the Ivywild property, will be a core feature of the new outdoor space.

“We’ve gotten some good responses from it and it’s always been designed to be more centrally located,” said Bristol.

The $700,000 project also saw the creation of a new parking lot in the property’s southeast corner and elimination of the north leg of a drive that ran in front of the building. Once work is complete, patrons will be able to wander into the Playground from the ground-floor barrel room, without leaving their beers behind.

“You can’t have a liquor license that goes over a drive or parking area, so it wasn’t contiguous as long as we had that drive,” said Bristol. “When the Playground area is done, the barrel room will just open up directly into there, so you’re not worried about cars parking or driving around.”