Surly Brewing Co. has secured two of the grants it needs to build a much-anticipated "destination brewery" in southeast Minneapolis.
The state Department of Employment and Economic Development announced Thursday that it was awarding the company a $1 million grant to clean up the site of a potato-processing plant in Prospect Park. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Council had awarded Surly a $543,500 grant.
The grants are necessary for environmental remediation on an area that was a waste-disposal site for many years before Northern Star Co. purchased it for food processing.
That leaves one missing link, Hennepin County, before Surly can move forward. Surly said last fall that it likely would select the site if it could garner funding for $2.5 million in cleanup costs. County officials are recommending a $450,000 grant, but a final vote by the County Board might not happen until Jan. 29.
Neither Surly nor its real estate consultant responded to requests for comment.
ERIC ROPER
