The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Norristown receives feasibility grant
$300K EPA Brownfields grant announced at formerly redeveloped Five Saints Distilling
NORRISTOWN » When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is handing out a $300,000 Brownfields grant for future studies of Norristown properties, where better to host the announcement than at Five Saints Distilling, the town’s crowning jewel of commercial transformation?
EPA officials and Norristown administrators were among those who gathered at the onetime Brownfields site that had sat vacant for nearly 20 years until Five Saints owner John George reinvented the former Humane Engine #1 Fire House as a regional destination with some initial help from an $800,000 EPA grant.
“Five Saints is an example of the types of redevelopment that get facilitated by the seed dollars from the EPA to help usher in additional investments,” noted Gregory Firely, senior project scientist at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, which will work as a consultant with the EPA on conducting site assessments of potentially contaminated Norristown properties to determine the
feasbility for redevelopment.
“Five Saints is the first one that’s been completely transformed and redeveloped. It’s one of those sites where everything lined up, so we wanted to highlight them as an example.”
The 2018 grant is the third to be awarded to Norristown since 2012, with more 60 sites having been identified for potential redevelopment, Firely noted. Seventeen sites have been assessed to date.
Surrounded by the rustic Five Saints ambience that boasts framed vintage photos and murals that pay homage to the building’s heritage, George told the crowd that the financial assistance from the EPA is what sparked his initial drive in moving forward with his decision to give the old firehouse a new lease on life.
“We got a grant from the EPA and were able to conduct the analysis that was required,” he said. “What you see today is the culmination of four years of community effort. It takes a village to raise a family and it takes more than that to build a distillery. These grants that EPA gives out are instrumental in allowing further investment into sites. We’re blessed in having Norristown’s infrastructure that is second to none … people are coming in and buying homes, values are going up.”
EPA Regional Director Pat Patterson explained that “The reason the EPA Brownsfield program is so successful is because of those who are out in the field who see these projects through. It takes the county, and first and foremost, the municipality and the folks in Norristown to have a vision. Whatever role we can play we’re more than ready.”
In a press release, Norristown Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones had noted, “This funding will allow Norristown to continue on the road of redevelopment and revitalization that we have been working towards. We have felt the impacts of former industrial sites sitting idle and loss of jobs and our workforce. However, with the assistance of EPA funding, we have been able to step in front of the problem of historic environmental legacy issues and remove the obstacle of unknown and uncontained impacts.”
The release further noted that Norristown is one of 144 communities nationwide that will receive Brownfields grants this year for environmental assessment, revolving loan funds, and cleanups. The 221 grants totaling $54.3 million will provide communities with funding to assess, clean up and redevelop under-utilized properties while protecting public health and the environment.
The Brownfields Program targets communities that are economically disadvantaged and provides funding and assistance to transform contaminated sites into assets that can generate jobs and spur economic growth. A study analyzing 48 Brownfields sites found that an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue was generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup, according to an EPA release.
“EPA’s Brownsfield grants provide a boost to communities by helping to put people back to work while also creating cleaner, healthier and economically stronger neighborhoods,” said EPA Region 3 Administrator Cosmo Servidio.
Norristown is now being recognized by not only the residents and the county, but well beyond the borough limits, George pointed out, referring to a recent award the distillery received from the American Distilling Institute (ADI) for Best Repurposed Building Into a Distillery for 2018.
“We’re very proud of this. They had anywhere in the world to choose from and they chose us,” George said.
Founded in 2003, the American Distilling Institute is the oldest and largest organization of smallbatch, independentlyowned distillers in the United States.
Five Saints recently added to its already substantial showcase of awards by winning bronze medals from ADI for its Savory Tuscan Style Gin and White Whiskey.
“With Cinco de Mayo coming up, White Whiskey is awesome for making margaritas because it has tequila-like notes,” said George, who is excited about the current renovation that will transform the upper level of Five Saints into a restaurant.
“This all ties together with the revitalization of Norristown,” he said, privately. “It really makes the firehouse true to its mission, which was bringing people together that’s what firehouses did way back when they were first born, and now today the firehouse is once again a gathering place for friends and family to meet.”