3 Pottstown Projects Net $2.5M in State Grants

Photo by Evan Brandt

EPA Secretary Andrew Wheeler, at podium, was in Pottstown in June to announce a $227,000 loan to help remove asbestos from the former Mercury building at King and North Hanover streets, which is to be converted into a "boutique hotel."

Just in time for Christmas, a state capital projects program has provided $2.5 million for major projects in the borough.

The grants were announced by two of Pottstown's state legislators Dec. 23.

The funding comes from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, which has also provided funding this month for a new emergency services building in Upper Providence; for the renovation of the historic Perkiomen Bridge Hotel in Collegeville; and to Laurel House, Montgomery County's domestic violence shelter.

They are:

• $1 million for the Mercury building, which has been vacant since June 2018, for comprehensive renovation and rehabilitation to become a boutique hotel and restaurant/lounge, which will complement established buildings in downtown Pottstown. 
• $500,000 for Y3 Life Sciences Incubator, to re-purpose 7,500 square feet of vacant space on the third floor of 159 E. High St. in Pottstown, which will eventually house a variety and ever-changing mix of life science ventures that require laboratory research space, high-speed computing power and flexible collaboration space.
• $1 million for Pottstown Sustainable Energy Park for development of a 174,000-ton per year Biomass Gasification facility, which will process clean commercial waste from 54 production plants in Montgomery, Berks and Lehigh counties.

April Barkasi, third from left, cuts the ribbon for

the opening of her business at 159 N. Hanover St.

during a ceremony in 2018.

Both of the first two projects are headed up by April Barkasi, CEO of Cedarville Engineering, which, among other things, provides engineering services to the borough and specializes in working with government agencies.

Barkasi moved her company to Pottstown and opened on the top floor of 159 N. Hanover Street in 2018.

She purchased the building from the bank that occupies the bottom floor and renovated the top floor for her company.

The EPA helped with the redevelopment of the top floors of the bank building Barkasi's engineering firm now occupies.

The Y3 Life Sciences Incubator will occupy space on the third flood of that building.

Barkasi also purchased the former Mercury building across the street from her office building after it was abandoned in 2018 by the Manhattan-based hedge fund that owns it, Alden Global Capital, and all operations moved to the company printing plant in Exton.

Alden has closed and sold numerous newspaper buildings as it extracts profits and undermines the sustainability of local news operations across the country.

The EPA also stepped in to help Barkasi with the renovation of the Mercury building. In June, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler came to town to announce a $227,000 loan from the agencies "brownfields" program to help cover the cost of removing asbestos tiles from the building where nearly 100 people had once worked.

The site plan for the gasification plant.

The third project to receive funding is a $142 million effort to construct a "green gasification energy" facility on Keystone Boulevard, which will convert cellulose (wood, paper and cardboard) and other material into diesel fuel, as well as create a by-product to be used as farm fertilizer.

It is projected to employ 68 people and have a $3.2 million payroll.

“I am happy to see that three Pottstown projects are the recipients of this important grant funding. The continuing growth of Pottstown is an exciting process, and this money will be used toward revitalizing and creating new opportunities,” state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist., said in a press release announcing the grant awards. 

“I am happy to continue to advocate for these projects that will not only re-energize Pottstown, but bring continued economic success and opportunity to the community,” Mensch said./ 

“We are grateful to the commonwealth – especially Senator Mensch and Representative Ciresi – for this tremendous investment,” said Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. “These projects will provide a catalytic economic development in the borough of Pottstown.”

"As a strong believer in Pottstown's potential, I have long been championing state support for redevelopment efforts there," state Rep. Joe :Ciresi, D-144th Dist., said in a release from his office. 

"This landmark investment in three important projects will transform vacant and underutilized properties, creating jobs and continuing the remarkable progress we've already seen in Pottstown," he said.