Coatesville Gateway Project work gets start date
Work to tear down buildings and put up new ones in 100 block of East Lincoln Highway will start in July
COATESVILLE » The developer of a project that will remake part of the city’s downtown has set a date for demolition to begin.
July 18 is the day work will start on the north side of the 100 block of East Lincoln Highway, as all of the buildings west of the Coatesville Cultural Society to First Avenue will be knocked down.
New buildings will then be constructed for retail and office purposes. The work, known as the Gateway Project, has support of state, county and city government officials.
“All of the work we’ve done to this point, it’s all been behind the scenes,” developer Jim DePetris said Thursday before he announced the start date at a Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce function. “But when those buildings start coming down, everything changes.”
Just last month, the state awarded the project a $3.2 million loan and a $2.1 million grant.
It calls for a group of onestory stores at the intersection of First Avenue and East Lincoln Highway as well as the former Lipkins furniture store to be demolished and replaced with a mix of more appealing retail and professional space. An original plan for residential units has been replaced by office space, DePetris said.
Among its highlights of the $21.6 million project outlined earlier this year:
• The developer has an agreement of sale to buy the Coatesville Cultural Society building and a commitment from a sports bar based in central Pennsylvania with multiple locations to open there. The 6,000-square-foot sports bar will take the first floor of the building while the Cultural Society will continue to operate on the upper floors, DePetris said.
• An Italian restaurant that now has a location in West Chester has agreed to move into an historic former bank
building on the southeast corner of Lincoln Highway at First Avenue.
• A day care center that already has an area location has committed to open another location when it’s ready for occupancy.
• The project has received $3 million in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP, funding from the state.
• Chester County has committed $1 million for a public garage. The location for that has not been determined yet, the developer said.
Separately, the city has received funding to fix the intersection of East Lincoln Highway and First Avenue. It currently is misaligned; when work is done traffic on First Avenue will be able to travel straight across East Lincoln Highway instead of the current slight zigzag.
State Rep. Harry Lewis, who has worked to get funding for the project, and Chester County Commissioners Chairwoman Michelle Kichline attended the chamber’s Gala on the Green event held on the grounds of the National
Coatesville Gateway Project includes demolition of the Lipkins building.
Iron & Steel Heritage Museum on South First Avenue. “This is something of a priority for us,” Kichline said. “The word is out there in the business community, Coatesville is open for business. I’m thrilled this finally a reality.”
Chamber President Mike Guyer said the project is important to him personally because he grew up in Coatesville and went to Coatesville Area Senior High School.
“It’s creating a lot of hope,” Guyer said. “The county is behind it, the city is behind it and the chamber is behind it.”
City Manager Michael Trio called the intersection of First Avenue and East Lincoln Highway “Main and Main.”
“It’s the center of the universe in Coatesville,” Trio said. “The local jobs (the project creates) are very important to us.”
DePetris, a veteran developer, said nothing perks up interest in a project like the visual of work being done.
“A lot of people on the sidelines right now will step forward when they see those buildings coming down,” he predicted.