Gentle Ben's set to reopen next spring

By Charles Ratliff

Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA students and professors can look forward to once again chugging homemade brewskies at Gentle Ben's.

The Marshall Foundation announced yesterday that construction will begin on Monday, Dec. 4, to restore the microbrewery operation to the University Square neighborhood.

Judge John Malloy, Marshall Foundation president, said construction expenses have held up the project. Malloy said the foundation was expecting the job to cost $500,000, but was impacted with projected expenses totalling $1 million.

He said both sides finally agreed to an $800,000 price tag to rebuild Ben's.

"(Owner) Dennis (Arnold) has been chomping at the bit," Malloy said.

Malloy said he expects the project schedule to run for four months and that Ben's should reopen late next spring.

Arnold could not be reached for comment.

The most recognizable student hangout near campus, Gentle Ben's had been closed for more than a year due to construction on the new Administration Annex and the erection of a hotel on Ben's former site at Tyndall Avenue and Second Street.

"We've all been curious about what's been happening with Gentle Ben's," said Beth Anne Cummings, an art education senior.

Mary Jondrow, an art education instructor, said, "It's a tradition for me to bring my students to Gentle Ben's at the end of the semester."

Ben's will reopen at its new location on the corner of Tyndall Avenue and University Boulevard.

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