I first went out to Dubuque on a Goose Island "brewer's trip" that included an amazing tour of the then operating Dubuque Star Brewery. 
At the time they were making a small of the classic Star Beer and also contract brewing brands, including bottled Three Floyds beers (drafts were brewed in-house in Indiana). That brewery was one of the good ole good-ones with a full gravity layout, an ammonia-brine chilling system and pitch-lined mild-steel and wood tanks. The boiler had a cast-iron brewer's star on the access panels and we even saw a rat crawling around in the grain silo built into the building. Yikes! Their bottling line had bottle cleaners to handle reusable bottles (a conveyor through a caustic dip tank) and a case box vacuum system to reuse old cardboard cases.
While the conditions were historic, eye opening and somewhat appalling, it was clear that the brewery's days were numbered. They just weren't making enough beer to keep a facility of that size alive. Lots of old breweries had closed and the frequent changes of ownership rarely led to new found success. Nearby, the old Huber brewery now called Minhas Craft Brewery survives as the second oldest brewery in the country as evidence that you can buck the trend. Sure, they don't any strong brands, but they are still around brewing beer in a classic facility.
In the mid-1990's when I made that last trip, downtown Dubuque was a quiet place with a lot of abandoned storefronts and relics of the dwindling river trade. I kind of wrote the place off mentality and never bothered to really check up on the old brewery as the years went on. While I wasn't watching local gave Dubuque's riverfront a massive facelift into an entertainment area and the old brewery was included in the plans.
Our family gave high marks to the Mississippi River Museum, which is connected somehow with the Smithsonian. Nice educational film with Tina Turner/CCR soundtrack, but surprisingly no Johnny Cash (Dubuque gets no mention in 'Big River'). With the kids in tow, we didn't check out Diamond Joe's Casino, but that appears to be the main attraction. It was nice to see a Casino development combined with some other non-gambling institutions for once. A few blocks away from all this action, main street Dubuque is springing back to life as well so we might just have to chock one up for the "casinovelopment" approach to urban renewal.
Getting back to the brewery, they have redeveloped the buildings without too much demo, but unfortunately the place is now occupied by a winery (sacre bleu!) on the first floor and the Star Restaurant and Ultra Lounge upstairs. 
What exactly is an Ultra Lounge you ask? I didn't quite figure that out either as the place was empty new years eve at 5pm when we showed with a 3 and 5 year old. On the plus side they did have a kids menu but no vegetarian entrees for daddy. I had an apple salad with Maytag Blue (when in Iowa....) that wasn't bad. The place was immense with a bar, dinning room and 4 private party rooms and the copper brew kettle remains in place, but not much else. Although our experience was mediocre it sounded like they were booked solid with revelers that night, so perhaps the cocktails are worth the return trip. They had a couple beers on tap (312, Fat Tire) and I opted for the Michelob Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale. Represented by the server (we got no drink menu) as a dark ale from Budweiser it was flavored with vanilla and didn't have a ton of flavor from the wood. Interesting, but I would have been happier with 312.
Fortunately, part of the first floor has been laid out museum style in tribute to Dubuque Star with other pieces of the brewing equipment on display. They documented the public debate over condemning the site and the process of fixing it up. Loads of breweriana behind glass and a nice wall made of case boxes. And there on the wall was the old boiler doors, minus the 6-pointed star which was pried off at some point, but its mark remains.
Next time, we'll make tracks north to check out the revitalization of Good Old Potosi.