This story was updated at noon Wednesday, Feb. 6.

The Rubber City is getting a new tire manufacturing facility.

Bridgestone Americas Inc. announced at a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 6, that it will build a new, state-of-the-art facility in Akron to produce Firestone-brand racing tires.

According to a news release, the plant will be built across the street from the company's Bridgestone Americas Technical Center, which sits at 10 E. Firestone Blvd. The company currently produces its race-tire lines at its Bridgestone Advanced Technology Workshop. Bridgestone leases that space, at the former Firestone Tire and Co. headquarters, from the city of Akron.

The company said plans were in the early stages and that in summer it would release more detailed information about the size and cost of its new facility.

As far as its racing-tire business goes, Bridgestone is the sole tire supplier to the NTT IndyCar Series, and the plant's sole output will be for the series. The company on Wednesday also announced an extension through 2025 for the Firestone brand to serve the open-wheel race series, which includes the Indianapolis 500.

Plans for the new factory, dubbed the Bridgestone Advanced Tire Production Center (ATPC), will include new construction and the renovation of an existing structure, the release said. Construction for the ATPC is expected to start in summer and early plans call for it to produce its first Firestone Firehawk race tires for testing in the IndyCar Series by the end of 2020, a spokeswoman said. An exact completion date for the facility should be released in summer, the company said.

The approximately 50 workers at the current facility will make the move to the new site, which will produce more than 60 race-tire specifications, the company said. Officials added it will take about four years to completely shift production over to the new facility.

"The Akron community and race-tire development have each played significant roles in our company's past, and they will continue to drive innovation for us in the future," said Nizar Trigui, Bridgestone Americas' chief technology officer, in a statement. "We are proud to ensure that Firestone race tires will be built in Akron for many years to come, soon in a new facility that will be as cutting-edge as the tires it produces."

Bridgestone's lease deal with the city was set to expire in 2016, but the parties reached a two-year extension. At the time, the city was looking at possibly razing the building, of which about 100,000 square feet is occupied by Bridgestone's tire unit.

Since then, the city announced plans for the Firestone Business Park on South Main Street near the site of the former Firestone headquarters. A group that includes the city, Summit County and APV Engineered Coatings, among others, plans to redevelop about 20 acres of land owned by the city and APV.

Company, city and county officials said Bridgestone will completely vacate its existing building near the business park. City and county officials said they will evaluate how the space should be utilized, including possibly using it as part of or to support the business park.

“We want the best use for the property, and as a community, we will discuss it,” Summit County executive Ilene Shapiro said.

Bridgestone's ties to Akron date to the company's 1988 purchase of Firestone, which, founded in 1900, was one of the manufacturing pillars during the city's rubber heyday.

While Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas' tire production, with the exception of its race-tire lines, now lies outside of Akron, in 2012 the company invested $100 million to build its 246,000-square-foot research and development center in the Rubber City. Many companies like to keep the production of their highest-performing tires near their research and development staffs; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., too, has both its research and race-tire operations in Akron.

Cara Adams, chief engineer for Bridgestone Americas Motorsports, said that the intent always was to keep race tire manufacturing in Akron.

“Race-tire engineering and race-tire manufacturing at Akron go hand in hand, so we really wanted to focus on keeping this here,” she said at the news conference.

The Firestone brand has been the tire of the IndyCar Series for 20 years. The Akron production facility will make more than 26,000 Firehawk race tires for teams across the upcoming 2019 schedule.