Bare Hands Brewery misses opening deadline for South Bend location

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Bare Hands Brewery has missed its deadline to open a long-anticipated location in downtown South Bend.

The former Gates Service Center has overgrown weeds across the outside walls, garbage piling by the padlocked entrance, and the interior of the building sits empty.

The City of South Bend handed over the property to Bare Hands in 2016 for just $1. In exchange, Bare Hands was supposed to open a brewpub at the location just down the road from Four Winds Field.

But on September 1^st, the deadline to open under a new agreement with the City reached in February, the building at 331 W Wayne St is still nowhere close to looking like project renderings.

Rendering of future South Bend brewpub Bare Hands Brewery

The February agreement extended a deadline for a rough inspection as developers repaired HVAC systems, electrical, and other issues.

The brewery even posted a video to social media showing work being done, with a caption saying in part "We are excited to open the doors for you by the 1st of September."

That hasn't happened.

ABC57 News reached out to the City and Bare Hands management Friday afternoon to see if there's been another change to the deal but have not heard back.