Syracuse, N.Y. -- A pub that will feature craft beers brewed on-site and incorporate a Syracuse brewing history museum is coming to the Syracuse Inner Harbor.

Bullfinch Brewpub is expected to open this spring on the first floor of the new Iron Pier Apartments in the 700 block of Van Rensselaer Street and will feature an ever-changing list of beers produced in small batches in a microbrewery behind the bar.

Scattered throughout the pub will be the “Brewseum,” a collection of photographs and artifacts from the Onondaga Historical Association’s vast collection depicting Syracuse’s rich brewing history.

Among the artifacts that will greet customers as they enter the pub will be Gambrinus, an 11.5-foot statue of the mythical patron saint of beer. Gambrinus stood guard at the old Haberle Brewery on Butternut Street from 1881 until the brewery’s closing in 1962 and later found its way into the Onondaga Historical Association’s collection.

Gambrinus is best known for leading an anti-Prohibition parade through the streets of Syracuse in 1932. The parade attracted tens of thousands of people, many chanting, “Bring back beer!”

A statue of Gambrinus, the mythical patron saint of beer, leads an anti-Prohibition parade through the streets of downtown Syracuse in 1932.Courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

“Gambrinus is going to feel a lot more at home,” said Gregg Tripoli, executive director of the historical association. “He’s been aching to get out in front of a bunch of people.”

The man behind the brewpub is Dave Collins, the brewmaster who helped to launch the Gordon Biersch microbrewery and restaurant at Destiny USA in 2012 and the Resurgence Brewing Co. on Buffalo’s West Side two years later.

Collins, 38, who grew up in Marcellus, said he has wanted to open his own pub for several years and chose the Syracuse Inner Harbor because of its location two blocks from Destiny USA and proximity to interstates 690 and 81.

“It’s a new building, and there is going to be a lot of potential customers, being close to the mall and 690 and 81,” he said. “Our location is really accessible. There are a lot of ways in and out.”

He said he will always have 10 beers on tap, with “guest” taps from other local breweries supplementing his own brews. The pub will also serve wines and ciders, he said.

“The idea is to always have as much local - or New York State - made stuff as possible,” said Collins.

Bullfinch will also serve wings and sandwiches, he said.

The Bullfinch Brewpub is expected to open in the Iron Pier Apartments building at the Syracuse Inner Harbor in the spring of 2020.Courtesy of David Collins

The Onondaga Historical Association has been making plans for a brewing history museum for past six years. It originally planned to make it part of a microbrewery and beer garden-style restaurant that developer Norm Swanson planned for the Franklin Square neighborhood, but Swanson put the project on hold in 2017 because of the proposed widening of Interstate 81 to within a few feet of his building.

Collins said officials at Cor Development Co., which built the Iron Pier Apartments as part of a $350 million redevelopment of the harbor, introduced him to the OHA. When officials at the association told him about their plans, he jumped at the chance to make the museum part of the Bullfinch, he said.

“The whole place will basically be kind of a walking tour of Syracuse’s brewing history,” he said. “Everywhere you go, you’ll see an artifact. It will be kind of unique.”

In addition to the Gambrinus statue, the museum’s artifacts will include items with the names of the many breweries that once operated in Syracuse, including beer barrels and bottles, and promotional merchandise such as makeup compacts, matchbook covers and T-shirts.

“These breweries were serious merchandisers,” Tripoli said. “They made just about everything you can think of with their beer’s name on it.”

The Bullfinch will occupy 5,000 square feet at the southwest corner of the Iron Pier Apartments, at Van Rensselaer Street and Salt Shed Drive.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Have a question or news tip? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148