The former Pottstown Plating Works plant on South Washington St. will benefit from state funding to clean its contaminated real estate and renovate its structure. Rob Manch dug into the details for WFMZ 69 News.

The nearly $500,000 of funding for the ambitious and visionary project is coming from the Pa. Dept. of Community & Economic Development (DCED).

“This property has been blighted for over a dozen years,” said Peggy Lee-Clark, the Executive Director of Pottstown Area Economic Development. At the news of the resources to renovate it, “We all let out a collective cheer,” Lee-Clark revealed.

From 1950–2009, the two-story, 46,500-square-foot building was home to a metal electro-plating company. Electro-plating is an industrial process that improves the surface quality of objects, often machinery used in manufacturing.

According to the DCED, the soil and groundwater at the site contain metals like nickel and cadmium, as well as chlorinated volatile organic compounds. The Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority will now oversee cleanup and monitoring contamination moving forward, as long as it approves the grant at its next meeting on Sept. 8.

“It’s not official until they decide that they want to engage with taking on this property,” said Lee-Clark. “We’re taking something that was not a great environmental legacy for us and really turning it back into productive use.”

In addition to the environmental remediation, the owner of the property, John Jones, has been investing his own money in renovating the plant, including the installation of new ceilings. The hope is that new businesses can use the facility in the future.

“We’re looking for advanced manufacturers, we’re looking for life-sciences, a brewing operation. Anybody that could use large industrial space,” said Lee-Clark.

More on this renewal of the Pottstown Plating Works is at WFMZ 69 News.