Arcadia Brewing aims to start delayed brewery expansion this week

Last year, Arcadia Brewing Co. announced it would be expanding its ability to produce its line of “Artisanal Ales.” Now the brewery is gearing up to break ground this week for a new production facility on Kalamazoo’s riverfront, according to local news reports. The production facility expansion is estimated as a $6 million-plus investment and includes a new 50-barrel (bbl) brewhouse and mixed-use facility that is to include a brewpub, tasting room, office area, beer production area and full parking lot. According to the article:

Excavation work is expected to begin this week on the new Arcadia Brewing Company. They had originally planned to begin digging last fall but the discovery of contaminated soil on the site will mean additional excavation and replacement of the soil. The Battle Creek based brewery says its new $6.2-million facility near the city’s riverfront will expand their production to 60,000 barrels a year. It’s expected to create 42-new jobs. Arcadia’s Tim Surprise says they had originally planned to open this spring. Because of the delay, plans now are to open the 30,000-square-foot facility, which will include a brewpub, this fall.

The company is currently making it happen with its original 25-bbl brewhouse, packaging regular and seasonal lineups in draft, 12- and 22-ounce bottles and 12-ounce cans. Last July, Arcadia President and Founder Tim Suprise had this to say in a press release: “Arcadia’s expansion into Kalamazoo is an important and exciting milestone, not only for our company, but for the greater Kalamazoo and Battle Creek communities. Not only is Arcadia reinvesting in our Battle Creek operation, but locating a new production and pub facility in Downtown Kalamazoo that will bring dozens of jobs and vitality to a strategically important section of the City [River’s Edge], while reclaiming a part of the Kalamazoo River.”