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The city two weeks ago for funding through the state's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. The $579,500 request would support the structural designs of the microbrewery, a downtown visitor welcoming center and a regional market bordering the Owasco River.

Prison City Pub & Brewery hopes to be with the microbrewery, which has been touted as a 4,000- to 7,000-square-foot beer manufacturing facility with a tasting room and the potential to create up to 25 full-time jobs.

A local match of $289,750 — half of the request — would be required from Auburn if the funding is awarded. With awards expected to be announced in December, the city is committed to pay the match through Auburn's general fund.

The investment does not reflect any further stake in the microbrewery by the city, said City Clerk Chuck Mason. Rather, he said the specifics behind the production facility would likely entail a private development process, with Prison City responsible for the construction costs.

"The bottom line is that they want to be included in the redevelopment of that block and they want to be included in the regional market project," Mason said.

Preliminary plans would see the microbrewery, market and welcoming center located along a section of Loop Road — between Genesee and North streets — that would be . Mason assisted acting Assistant City Manager Jennifer Haines with the grant application.

Haines said the Waterfront Revitalization grant would cover the design of the building's mechanics, identifying the capacity needs and location of the structure. It would not be used for internal design plans for any brewing systems or other interior elements, she said.

The state has supported similar concepts for local breweries. Notably, allocations of state funding were awarded over the last few years to Empire Farmstead Brewery in Cazenovia and Good Nature Brewing Co. in Hamilton.

The microbrewery, along with the welcoming center and riverside market, was considered a component of the city's plans for a $10 million prize through the state's Downtown Revitalization Initiative contest.

But after the top prize in the region , Auburn officials turned their focus to other potential funding sources.

The contest results have not impacted Prison City's plans for an Auburn expansion, said Dawn Schulz, who owns the brewery with her husband, Marc. While she feels the $10 million may have expedited the process, Prison City ownership still looks forward to anchoring the riverside market.

The brewery recently received a ringing endorsement for a new production facility from national digital publication Paste Magazine, which ranked one of Prison City's American India pale ales as .

"Note to local government: GET THESE GUYS A GRANT, STAT," the Paste judges wrote in the magazine's , later adding, "We can't wait until Prison City is producing a much larger amount of beer so we can taste it more often."

Since announcing their intentions to expand, Schulz said she and Marc have received offers from malls and realtors in the areas of Ithaca, Syracuse and Waterloo for a possible location.

Though those spots could fit the structural needs, Prison City remains committed to downtown Auburn — and to the riverside regional market project — because keeping the production facility within walking distance of the State Street brewpub would make a better customer experience, Dawn said.

"It will happen," she said. "I think that the city is going to move forward with it, and I hope that we can help and be a part of it."