Ground is broken on new downtown Albany craft brewery

ALBANY — A new downtown craft brewery expected to bolster business in downtown Albany is one step closer to becoming a reality after city officials and developers gathered Tuesday for a groundbreaking at the former Albany Art Park, which will soon house a portion of the brewery.

Dozens of city and county officials joined the principals of Pretoria Fields Brewery, including founder and owner Dr. Tripp Morgan, to break ground on the microbrewery, which is expected to serve as an anchor, not only for downtown Albany, but the city as well.

“It’s a great day in the city of Albany, but it’s an even greater day in downtown Albany,” said Downtown Albany Manager Latoya Cutts in her welcoming remarks. ‘This is not just a downtown Albany project, this is a city of Albany project.”

Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan echoed that sentiment, adding that the construction of the brewery is part of a larger picture of growth for the city, and an example of how of the Albany officials are working to foster the success of private industry.

“The city of Albany is traveling on many roads, an infrastructure road, a transportation road, tourism, recreation, quality-of-life amenities, education, innovation, manufacturing, retail, and today we celebrate a huge step in our redevelopment of downtown road,” Subadan said. “All these roads will create a climate for industry to be successful here in the city of Albany and improve the financial condition of all who live here.

“Government doesn’t create jobs, but we’re responsible for creating the climate where industry can be successful. And I’m proud to be part of a government that is committed to do just that. City government cannot be successful alone. We must engage in multi-sector collaborative efforts, emphasis on collaborative.”

Collaboration was also at the heart of remarks made by Thelma Adams Johnson, chair of both the Downtown Development Authority and Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority, two entities which have worked with Pretoria Fields to bring the brewery to the downtown area.

“This is truly a public/private partnership,” said Johnson. “This is the culmination of months of working together, being creative enough to think outside of the box.

“This is the largest private investment ever in downtown Albany, and the largest since the Hilton Garden Inn. Today is a new day. This is the beginning of what public and private resources can do with the right plan, to create jobs and investment in downtown.”

While the brewery is expected to create jobs and spur future development in the area, Albany’s Ward III Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem B.J. Fletcher pointed out that the addition of the brewery in her ward will begin the process of defining Albany’s individuality.

“When you go out of town the first thing you do is ask somebody, ‘Hey, where is your downtown?’” Fletcher said. “We don’t want to be a Thomasville. We don’t want to be a Valdosta. We want to be an Albany, Georgia. So let’s find our identify and let this be the beginning.”

During his remarks Morgan, who gave thanks to myriad individuals in the community, touched on a variety of topics, including his vision for Pretoria Fields and what it will mean to the community.

“Pretoria Fields has a vision to facilitate a better quality of life for the people we serve through humility, integrity and hard work,” he said. “Our mission is to endeavor to produce the highest quality of craft beer, with respect to local agriculture. Our brand will anticipate and satisfy the evolving taste of the rapidly growing craft beer market.

“We have faith that this building will be more than a brewery. It’s a dynamic partnership between Pretoria Fields and downtown Albany — a partnership with a goal to find a new hope for prosperity in the Good Life City.”

No timetable for the completion of the brewery, which will encompass the art park and two adjacent buildings on Pine Avenue, was given at the groundbreaking, but the company, which is using a farm brewery model that will utilize ingredients grown in south Georgia, has already begun crop production on the certified-organic land that Pretoria Fields owns in Dougherty County.