The city zoning hearing board unanimously approved a variance Thursday allowing America's Oldest Brewery to turn its former ice cream factory into a museum, gift shop and wastewater treatment facility.
D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc., Pottsville, was granted the variance on the conditions that nothing be done to the top floor of the building except sealing it and if something were to be done, it would need to submit another application.
A hearing was held since the former ice cream factory on the northeast corner of Fifth and Mahantongo streets is in a residential district, City Code Enforcement Officer Donald J. Chescavage said previously.
The owner of the building is DGY Limited Real Estate Partners and the architect is Rachel Ravitz, Jackson, Wyo.
Representing the contractor was President Roy Heim and project manager Len Gallo, Heim Construction Co., Pottsville, who explained the project to the board.
"At one point and time, Mr. Yuengling thought about demolishing it and when we talked through, we tried to talk him into saving it," Heim said. "This is history of the city. One of the things I believe is that we don't save enough history in our city."
The men explained that the main floor of the building with an entrance at Mahantongo Street will be the museum and gift shop.
The total floor area is about 9,300 square feet, with about 1,700 square feet to be used for the gift shop and about 2,200 square feet for the museum, Gallo said.
"They have tons of history over there that does not get shown or displayed," Heim said. "Part of the whole deal was to create a bigger spot that people can actually view the history."
The basement will be open storage and where the water treatment will take place.
There will also be holding tanks behind the building for the water before it's treated inside the plant.
Water will come from the brewery to the former ice cream building in pipes under Mahantongo Street.
The tanks, which will go in the current loading dock area, will be have about "20 feet" visible above ground.
The plant will need to meet all regulations not only from the sewer authority, but also the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
On the top floor, all that is being done is new windows will be put in and it will be sealed.
There will also be some parking spaces on the side of the building since Yuengling recently purchased that lot, as well as a few spaces in the back, as many it will allow.
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 October, D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. informed the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority of its intentions to increase production at its brewery on the south side of Fifth and Mahantongo streets and turn its former ice cream factory into an industrial wastewater pretreatment plant for the brewery.
In December, Yuengling put a new roof on the former ice cream factory. Using the name DGY Limited Real Estate Partners, the brewery paid the city $820 for the permit for the $80,000 job. E&S Construction, 311 S. Second St., Saint Clair, was the contractor in charge of that project, according to the permit.
Some of the concerns from the public at the hearing were about the holding tanks and treatment system in regard to noise and smells.
Although he didn't have specs, Robert Seaman Jr., plant manager at Yuengling, said that all of the treatment is contained and takes place inside the building.
He also said that the tanks only hold water before it is treated and put into the sewer system.
There are no pumps transporting the water from the brewery as it all occurs with gravity.
No timeline was given for when the project will be completed.