County OKs grant to aid ale house

NORRISTOWN >> The Montgomery County commissioners approved a measure that will help bring an ale house to downtown Pottstown.

The commissioners voted 3-0 to extend a 2011 grant that will allow the Downtown Business Incentive Grant Program to award $71,000 to Armstrong Ale House, which is in the process of renovating a location at 251 High St.

The program seeks to incentivize business owners to renovate historic properties on High Street.

“I can’t tell you how much of a benefit this program has been to our downtown district in Pottstown,” Assistant Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller told the commissioners. “We are really targeting small business and entrepreneurs and these funds are really useful in pushing them over the hump, so to speak.”

The $198,000 grant was issued by the county in 2011, according to county Deputy Chief Operating Officer Lee Soltysiak. The borough had a $71,000 balance left on the grant. Pottstown will contribute an additional $9,000 to bring the total

allocated to the ale house entrepreneurs to $80,000.

The projected cost of renovating and retrofitting the building for the brewery is $200,000.

The grants have focused on developments on the 200 block of High Street, aiding VideoRay to build its corporate headquarters at 212 High St. and bringing in a new bank, Tompkins, at 258 High St.

“We’re trying to create a critical mass of development there that will hopefully create a snowball effect for future developers that want to come in, they’ll see that those improvements being made as something to build on,” Keller said.

“It’s really a big win for everyone.”