The Bottling Plant Event Center takes groups from a small business lunch to a gathering of 1,500 guests: conferences, trade shows, fundraisers, company parties and weddings. It occupies a former Coca-Cola bottling plant on North Railroad Avenue in downtown Opelika, Alabama, a few minutes from Auburn University.
Seminars and company events
The venue lists conferences and seminars, corporate functions, training sessions and workshops among its main uses, alongside exhibitions and trade shows. Larger programs use the main Event Center, where the floor plan is set to the size of the group, while an upstairs meeting room suits smaller working sessions. Fundraisers, galas and holiday parties are also part of the regular calendar. Because the kitchen and the bar are run on site, a day of meetings, a lunch and an evening reception can all be booked with one team.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings and receptions are a large part of the venue's work. Couples can hold the dinner in the Event Center, use the Courtyard Pavilion for an outdoor part of the day, and keep the upstairs lounge for a quieter moment or for the wedding party. The same team handles food and drinks, so there is no separate caterer or bar company to coordinate. Rehearsal dinners, graduation, retirement and birthday parties, and family reunions are booked in the same spaces.
Rooms and capacities
The building holds up to 1,500 guests at its largest setup. The venue publishes a capacity chart and floor plans on its Info and Floor Plans page. The spaces are the Event Center, which is the main hall; the Courtyard Pavilion; an upstairs meeting room; and an upstairs lounge. The site does not give figures room by room, so organizers should ask for seated and standing capacities by layout before they fix a guest list.
Catering
Catering is in-house. The venue has its own kitchen and a full ABC license for beer, wine and liquor, and presents itself as a single supplier for food and bar. Three menus are offered: lunch and dinner, a reception menu, and a build-your-own option for groups that want to choose each item. The upstairs lounge also runs a wine shop with a Wine Down Wednesday evening each week, and the team can order bottles that are not in stock.
History and setting
The building opened in 1938 as a Coca-Cola plant where syrup was produced, bottled and shipped from a single site. Syrup production stopped in the 1970s, the plant then served for distribution only, and it closed in 2007. After about four years empty, it was restored and reopened in 2010 as an event center. Scott and Julie Brown, who opened Whistle Stop Bottle & Brew in downtown Opelika in 2019, took ownership of the venue in June 2025. The industrial building stands on Railroad Avenue in the historic center of town, within walking distance of downtown restaurants and shops.
Getting there
The venue is at 614 North Railroad Avenue in downtown Opelika, close to the Auburn University campus and to Interstate 85. Guests flying in usually land at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, about 1 h 45 by road, or at the smaller Columbus airport in Georgia. Hotels in Opelika and Auburn cover overnight stays, as the venue has no bedrooms of its own.
