BLUFF CITY BEER TO BUILD NEW FACILITY

Cape West Business Park will have its first occupant in January 1992.

Bluff City Beer Co. is building a warehouse there to handle its expanding business.

The park is located southwest of the Interstate 55/Route K intersection. Wal-Mart will open one of its Supercenters there in 1992, fronting Route K.

Bluff City co-owner Joda Bess of Cape Girardeau said the company's present warehouse at 408 Commercial St. cannot be expanded. "The new building is 2.5 times bigger," he said. "We have outgrown our warehouse and need something more adequate." The 15,300-square-foot building should be finished by the end of 1991 and occupied in January.

Bluff City intends to sell its existing building when it is vacated. It was built in 1973.

Dan Overbey of Drury Development Corp., which owns the business park, said they sold 2.2 acres of land on the property's south side to Bluff City. Richard Ralph Construction Co. is expected to start construction soon.

Bluff City Beer, which is co-owned by Alvin Bess of Poplar Bluff, has warehouses in Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Kennett, Bonne Terre and Herculaneum. The distributor is headquartered in Poplar Bluff and distributes Miller Brewing Co. brands of beer.

"This is the fifth new warehouse for the company in 11 years," Joda Bess said. "When it is completed, we will have a total of 72,000-square-feet in the five communities." Bluff City serves Southeast Missouri from Jefferson County south to the Arkansas border.