WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Bloomington startup, Switchyard Brewing Company, has signed a long-term lease for the former Jake’s Night Club building at 419 North Walnut Street. That’s according to a press release from the brewing company. The owners of the brewing company say they plan major renovations and a complete interior makeover for the 8,800-square-foot building. Company founder Kurtis Cummings says the location will tailor itself towards people who want a place to get work done.
“People can come and pick up a beer and sit down and work on their projects. We took it a step further and we said why don’t we do it with early morning co-work hours: no other brewpub is open at 7:00 in the morning, but that’s a really popular time to get your day going. So, we thought, lets do this partnership with Hopscotch Coffee. Let’s offer their coffee products in the morning along with some simple pastries and breakfast items and we will continue that all day long. Switchyard will be a place for entrepreneurs and creatives in the morning and then as the afternoon progresses, it will become more of your nightspot in Bloomington where we will have a small stage for acoustic type performances and live music – nothing super loud. We’ve got plenty of sports bars in town already, we’ve got plenty of live music venues already. We’re looking to fill this niche of something different.”
Cummings went on to say it was important that Switchyard put together a plan different from previous businesspeople who were interested in the space. He says the owner of the former nightclub building, Jordan Vuckus, had reservations about selling the space to another bar. “I think he was waiting on a unique business plan to come his way that he thought would really work. I feel like what will make us different: 1. there is tremendous growth of student housing in that area, there’s a lot of new apartment buildings that have been constructed. Tourism downtown has increased in the last 10 years. We’re in walking distance of two hotels that are right downtown. What it takes to be successful in that building is enough capital to do the renovations, a unique business plan, and the changes we have already seen downtown.”
The facility has been vacant since 2013, when the former Jake’s Night Club closed. Vuckus told the Herald-Times in 2015 that startup costs for a new tenant would be as much as $350,000, due largely to the need for major renovations. Switchyard Brewing Company plans on opening its doors this December.
