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Date: 1/9/2024
BELCHERTOWN — Chris Peterson, CJ Eldridge and Dave Pare from Arcpoint Brewing are one step closer to opening the first brewery and taproom in Belchertown after the Select Board approved their all alcoholic beverages license at its Jan. 2 meeting.
Arcpoint brewing signed a 10-year lease at 30 Front St. in July and architects have been designing and constructing the space ever since.
Peterson said, “The price was right, the place was great, the location was great, it was like winning the lottery to the point where we locked down the lease last January and have been paying on the lease before we even got the loan squared away because we were that excited.
Pare and Peterson were at the Select Board meeting to discuss the timeline for the new brewery and taproom.
Pare added, “We have been working at this for some time here with the town and some things kind of derailed us along the way, but we are back on track, and we’ve signed a long term lease. Our goal is to get our brewery up and running within the next couple of months.”
Arcpoint brewing plans to have different food trucks at the brewery as a dining option.
Peterson said, “We plan on utilizing food trucks. There’s not a whole lot of places to eat in Belchertown and I think the variety that having rotating food trucks come in will be a really big win for Belchertown.”
Peterson described the space as a three-bay garage with an office space attached to it.
Arcpoint Brewing will be leasing one-third of the building which is around 2,700 square feet but also has a lot of lawn space according to, Peterson.
Pare added, “I think during the summertime when it gets warmer, we will probably be looking to do something outside as long as we get the acoustics situated so it’s not going to be an issue. We don’t have a lot of room in the space in the taproom itself so given the occupancy limitations we have we probably won’t have anything indoors so never say never.”
An all-alcohol license, Peterson said, allows Arcpoint to serve some possible alternatives to those who don’t drink beer.
He said, “We aren’t planning to serve spirits. We just wanted to be able to provide an alternative like wine or maybe some seltzers.”
Select Board member Ron Aponte said, “I appreciate your determination with regards to this. I thank you for that and I think you are going to be a great addition to the town of Belchertown.”
Peterson is a Belchertown resident and said Belchertown was the ideal place to open their first brewery.
Peterson said, “We always put Belchertown in the forefront of our minds. We really didn’t want to open up anywhere else. Our partner Dave was just driving around and he had seen a lease sign go up at the location we are at now.”
Select Board member Jen Turner added, “I had the privilege of touring this facility and I am very excited for you guys to open here with your roots.”
You can check out facebook.com/ArcpointBrewCo for updates on the construction.