The Glass Jug brewery ready to open taproom at Durham's Central Park

It's been a long time coming, but The Glass Jug Beer Lab finally has an opening date for its new location in Durham.

The family-owned taproom will open at 545 Foster St. across from Durham Central park on March 29. The taproom was supposed to open last summer but was delayed due to the pandemic.

"We wanted to do this spring as we are seeing (Covid-19) cases drop, and it looks like we timed it well," owner Chris Creech said. "Construction is wrapping up at a time when we feel that things are moving in the right direction."

Creech and his wife, Katy, who co-owns the brewery, negotiated leasing terms to include accommodations for pandemic-related challenges.

"We wanted protection that wasn't previously standard in commercial leases," he said. "If we had to be at limited capacity or are forced to close, we wanted some abatement of rent."

The cost to transform the space in the building that houses the Foster on the Park apartments was about $400,000 to $500,000. The establishment will seat about 100 to 120 guests at full capacity.

"We’ve had our eyes on downtown Durham for expansion for a while because that's where we’ve seen a lot of growth and there's a lot of nightlife," Creech said. "It's become an entertainment district. This location is more than an apartment complex; it's the only retail in the building and we have a front patio that opens up to the park and it's across from the Durham Food Hall so it's very part of the community."

The site will not have the extensive retail beer or wine shop that is synonymous with The Glass Jug. Instead, the new taproom will feature original brews, wine and cider on draft with nonalcoholic options.

The team has been brewing at full capacity at their Durham-based brewery and entered into an alternating proprietorship agreement at the Rocky Mount Mills to increase annual production from under 300 barrels to about 1,000 barrels.

The new Durham location will add about 10 jobs.

Creech had to temporarily close Glass Jug's original location on Highway 55 at the Greenwood Commons shopping center by Research Triangle Park from last March through June due to state restrictions to battle the pandemic. He relied on to-go sales and outdoor seating for social distancing and later launched an online store and offered delivery.

"It did not replace what we would have in a normal summer but we saw some benefits from it," Creech said. "We were able to adjust even though the margins on packaged beer are not as large as they are on draft beer, but we were able to keep our revenue steady. We were able to make sure our staff kept getting a paycheck."

The company originally started as a bottle shop in 2014 and expanded in 2018 to include the outdoor beer garden.