Brewery To Begin Pouring Soon
Repurposing of former stockyards and auction house industrial sites is almost complete.
New Belgium Brewing will be making beer in about six weeks at its West Asheville/River Arts District brewery.
The Asheville Citizen-Times, Tony Kiss, reported that New Belgium will open its Liquid Center tasting room in February 2016, with tours to begin in March and a grand opening celebration Aug. 27. But the production of the first beers will be a major piece of the process that began in April of 2012.
Many Beer City USA enthusiasts have anxiously watched the brewery’s buildings rise on the repurposed commercial real estate site, and many are evaluating how New Belgium’s appearance on the Asheville manufacturing scene will impact the region. Certainly, the new development along the French Broad River and expansion of the business corridor between Asheville and West Asheville are attractive, but others ponder the muti-faceted socio-economics that arrive with new industry. Discussions containing multiple avenues of thought are of interest to everyone, and particularly to those with real estate and other investments in this portion of Asheville’s commercial district.
Ken Abbot, an Asheville area photographer, produced a thought-provoking photo essay documenting his perspective on the former stockyard site, along with buildings in the River Arts District just across Craven Bridge.
The photographs are made using the LEAP system for the aerial views, and the Hasselblad film camera for the portraits and landscapes.
While I, and most others I have spoken to, are happy to see New Belgium come to town and to see positive development across the French Broad from the River Arts District, there are certainly things that are lost when such big changes are made.