Where will the new home of Infinite Ale Works be?
The new home of Infinite Ale Works is still under construction. The location is the former Ocala Fire Station.
Doug Engle, Okara Starbanner
Infinite Yale Works is scheduled to open at the former Ocala Fire and Rescue Station No. 1 at 235 NE Watula Ave. by March 2024. Big Lee’s Serious About Barbecue and The Sipping Grounds have outposts in the same building.
The restaurant will cover 13,000 square feet under a roof of 1.08 acres. Overlooking the lake of Tuscabyra Park.
The venue offers indoor and outdoor wraparound seating, as well as entertainment on indoor and outdoor stages. Al fresco dining is available on the patio overlooking the lake.
The husband-and-wife team of Tom and Christine have long been looking for a suitable new location to operate their Infinite Ale Works craft brewery. The current location is on South Magnolia Avenue. The former Ocala Fire Rescue Station No. 1 suited the conditions.
Christine McDonald says similar businesses are expanding into downtown Ocala, such as The Forge, a complex of restaurants and bars under one roof in the former WMOP building on Northeast First Avenue. He said he was happy to see him do it.
“Downtown is now walkable,” she said. The Midtown and Downtown areas have many other interesting spots.
“This is a great place for us. We offer the only waterfront dining in Midtown and Downtown from our lakefront patio area in Tuskawilla,” said Christine McDonald.
“(Our base) is a collaboration of three local companies, helping each other,” she said.
catalytic site
The former OFR 1st Station and the former WMOP building are both catalyst sites for the City of Ocala.
Ashley Dobbs, marketing and communications manager for the Ocala City Office of Strategic Engagements, detailed the incentives the city provided for the development of the former fire station.
“The developer’s total development cost will be at least $750,000. The City sold the property for a purchase price of $1.00. The value of the property under the contract was $360,000. The City property endowment is $359,999.00.” Dobbs wrote.
Dobbs said the city will provide “water, sewer, electrical and internet facilities to the property boundary” and “parking spaces along public right-of-way, six-foot-wide sidewalks, bike parking and streetlights.” .
Dobbs said an urban development grant of up to $225,000 will be paid in installments over six years after the project is completed.
OFR spokeswoman Ashley Lopez said the OFR management office, located in a separate building next to the old fire station, moved in 2015. The fire station itself moved in 2018.
Infiniti plans to keep the large roll-up front door and the large mural on the interior wall depicting firefighters fighting a fire.
Brian Stuhoff joined OFR in 1982 and has worked in various capacities over the years at Fire Station 1. He was appointed assistant fire chief in 2012, according to a Star Banner article. He retired in 2014.
“This (firefighter mural) is one of two murals that were in the old fire station,” Stuhov wrote in an email. He suggested that firefighter Eric Morton painted both murals around 2005, saying he “also designed the artwork for some of the fire truck logos found on the city’s fire trucks.” Ta.
Morton said in a phone call that he wanted the mural preserved.
Planning a new space
“We hope to be in a new location by March 2024, the 10th anniversary of Infinite Yale Works,” said Tom McDonald.
A site permit for demonstrations and renovation work at the site will be issued by the city in April 2022, with subsequent permits set to expire in January 2024.
McDonald’s recently gave a tour of the building, explaining the layout and plans for the new store.
There are about 100 seats in the centrally located bar and another 100 on the lake-view patio, for a total of about 300 seats.
“It’s exciting,” said Robin Cruickshank of Shipping Grounds of Ocala. The store now has two other stores in Ocala and one in Leesburg.
Cruickshank said Shipping Grounds will offer coffee, breakfast, sandwiches and desserts, and a lunch menu. He also said Big Leeds Serious About Barbecue will also have a service area within the building.
Infinite Ale has many fans
Kevin Sheets, a current Infinite Ale Works customer, said he likes the brewery’s craft beers and prefers them to national “big name” brands.
He recently won the Infinite Ale Works ‘Brewer of the Day’ contest and brewed an imperial porter beer named ‘Gait-r-don’ in honor of the horse industry here.
Sheets is a homebrewer and enjoys the atmosphere at Infinite Ale Works. He said he had a “positive outlook” on the move.
Originally from Ocala, Tom McDonald “grew up in the restaurant business” and ran the now-closed Broadway restaurant Pi.
“Infinite” brewery is derived from pi.
Infinite Ale Works is considered a “large brewery” that produces 1,000 barrels of craft beer per year. The brewery was named “Best Large Brewery of 2018” by BestFloridaBeer.org, and Magenta Dragon Beer was named “Second Best Beer” in 2018.
“We are excited about the future growth opportunities presented by our expansion. ‘, Tom McDonald wrote in a text message.