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NPS Form 10 -900a (8 -86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 1 OMB Approval Na 1024-WIS South Bend Brewing Association St. Joseph County IN NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION The former South Bend Brewing Association plant, opened in 1905, faces the busy thoroughfare of West Lincolnway in an area of mixed' residential, commercial, and light industrial use. Immediately east (see photos 1,3) past a vacant lot are tracks of the New York Central Railroad. To the west ,across College Street is - the company's former bottling facility (photo 6), constructed in 1910- The main plant, a large and irregularly shaped brick building, rises approximately four stories at its main north facade (photos 1,2), which features squared corner towers west and east and a crenelated parapet. A corbelled cornice runs along the front, and each of the towers itself has a small tower at the outer corner with a corbelled peak. The window openings, segmental and flat - arched with limestone sills, are now almost all boarded; a few are bricked. The original facade appears to have been rather plain; today a one -story glass - paneled storefront added in the 1950s dominates. Faded ghost signs from the 1960s are visible on the entire facade above the storefront. The four -story section of the building is trapezoidal, owing to the north side following the parallel of Lincolnway, which angles west northwest out of town. Along the east elevation (photo 3) the building becomes three stories (but essentially the same height), then one; that portion sports a large cylindrical brick smokestack. At the southwest of that section (photo 4) is a somewhat higher one -story section with a post -World War II addition. Within the L formed by the north -and east elevations nestles another one -story section with a loading dock; it features some Craftsman details, chiefly a hipped roof with a wide overhang and knee braces. The area of the original building behind the added storefront has been used for numerous activities over the years and has been remodeled a great deal on the first and second-floors. Beyond that, however, the building's interior remains largely untouched. The huge metal tank on the topmost level where the brewing process began remains in place. These areas were not maintained for decades, during which time generations of pigeons have called it home. Virtually all the original window sashes that were removed when the openings were boarded or bricked remain stacked inside.