VANCOUVER, BC – After almost two years of planning and consultation, the Alma Mater Society (AMS) student government at the University of British Columbia (UBC) has approved funding for an on-campus brewery, but in a different location that the one originally planned.
As first reported here on CBN in 2011, the brewery was originally proposed to be part of UBC’s new Student Union Building (SUB) that was being designed at the time. This plan was approved by the AMS in February 2012, but in December, student newspaper The Ubyssey reported that subsequent analysis showed the cost of building the brewery would be more prohibitive than expected, and further consultations were planned.
As a result of these further consultations, the AMS unanimously approved $1.1 million in funding for the brewery during a council meeting on March 6th, but with the proviso that the brewery be built in the new UBC Farm Centre that is scheduled to open in 2017 rather than the now close-to-completion SUB.
According to a report in The Ubyssey, this move will reduce the cost of brewery construction from $410 to $350 per square foot, and will provide more space for brewing and storage, as well as an opportunity to use hops and barley that are already growing on the UBC Farm.
Construction is now contingent on the AMS coming to an agreement with UBC on using space in the new Farm Centre for the brewery project, as well as finding a third party to take on operation of the brewery.