(Bloomington, IN) – Upland Brewing Company has acquired a 47,000 square foot building near downtown Bloomington and begun applying for regulatory approval to re-locate its production brewery to the new site by January 2012. The 1.8-acre location at 301 West Grimes Lane sits directly adjacent to the City’s B-Line Trail and the railroad switchyard targeted for a new city park. The company’s Tap Room restaurant will remain at the current 11th Street site, where a smaller pilot brewing system will be installed to develop new specialty beers.

Upland will spend $1.5 million to acquire and renovate the building and another $1.5 million over the next 3-5 years to expand and upgrade brewing, fermentation and packaging equipment. As a result of the investments, brewing capacity will more than double from 11,000 to 25,000 barrels (a brewer’s barrel is equivalent to 31 gallons). The company is also prepared to increase and accelerate its investment to beautify the building and site and is seeking economic development assistance from the City for infrastructure costs required for basic brewery operations in order to do so.

On Wednesday, August 3rd, 5:00 – 7:00, Upland will host an open house at the new facility for the public to see the space and review drawings and site plans.

To commemorate the official opening of the B-Line Trail later this summer, Upland is hosting the inaugural “B-Line Twilight Trail Run and Shindig” on October 29th, the proceeds from which will be donated to the Bloomington Parks Foundation. The evening run will start at their 11th Street location, which sits at the north end of the B-Line Trail, pass the new Switchyard Brewery location, and finish with a local music festival.