Now that asbestos abatement has been done at the former ice cream factory owned by D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc., Yuengling's president is reconsidering its demolition plans.
"Apparently, Yuengling may not demolish the building. There is a meeting (Tuesday) with city. Don't know what time or where," Colleen Connolly, a spokeswoman for DEP's Northeast Regional Office, Wilkes-Barre, said in an email Tuesday.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with it and that's the only comment I'm going to make," Richard L. "Dick" Yuengling, the brewery's president, said in a brief phone interview Tuesday afternoon.
"No new permits have come in. Right now, we're just waiting to see what the next step is going to be," Donald J. Chescavage, city code enforcement officer, said Tuesday.
America's Oldest Brewery built the creamery in 1920 in response to Prohibition to make up for lost beer sales. The 40,000-square-foot concrete, brick and steel structure is on the Fifth Street slope. The side bordering Mahantongo Street is two stories high and the side bordering West Norwegian is four stories high. It has a parking lot behind it that could accommodate 20 vehicles.
The factory closed in 1985. Yuengling donated the property to St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, Pottsville, and the church sold it to Smith & Smith Contracting, which used it for storage. Then, in the mid-1990s, Yuengling bought the building back for about $125,000.
In April, Yuengling rejected a plan submitted in 2012 by Barefield Development Corp. to build 25 apartments for the elderly and a brew pub there.
Meanwhile, the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority has been putting pressure on Yuengling to install a sewage pretreatment facility for its brewery at 501 Mahantongo St.
On May 6, Yuengling acquired a building permit from the city for a "demolition" project at the former creamery. Using the name DGY Limited Real Estate Partners, the brewery paid the city $4,100 for the permit for the $405,000 job. AMC Enterprises, 147 W. Odgen St., Girardville, is the contractor in charge of the project, according to the permit.
"We don't know what we're going to do with it yet. We don't have a plan yet. We have to clean it out. It's all we're doing," Yuengling said in April.
On May 20, Forrester Environmental Inc., Bloomsburg, began removing asbestos from building, according to Connolly.
"The asbestos abatement form the company has on file here at DEP says they hope to finish cleaning out the material by July 31. It could take less time than that," Connolly said June 4.
On June 4, Mayor John D.W. Reiley said Yuengling was considering the possibility of tying the demolition of its former ice cream factory to Pottsville's Sharp Mountain mine reclamation project.
On July 12, Forrester Environmental completed the abatement work, Connolly said Tuesday.
"A revision notification was received about July 1, 2013, which added tank insulation and pipe and fitting insulation removal (both outside) to the list," Connolly said Tuesday.
Now, Connolly is waiting to see what Yuengling will do with the former ice cream factory.
"The contractor will call DEP if or when they decide what to do with building," she said.