E-Malt.com News article: USA, PA: Voodoo Brewery purchasing long-vacant building in Homestead with plans to set up operations there

A Meadville-based brewery is purchasing a long-vacant building in Homestead with plans to set up operations there, triblive.com reported on June 13.

Homestead council on June 12 approved the sale of the old borough fire station located at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Amity Street to Voodoo Brewery.

Voodoo submitted a bid of $8,500 for the three-story brick building.

“There's living, breathing history in there,” Jake Voelker of Voodoo Brewery said after the meeting, noting the purchase is part of the brewery's plans to expand.

Voelker said Voodoo's operation in Meadville is located in a historically significant building, too. He said much work needs to be done to renovate the Homestead structure and plans for the building still are in the development phase.

Voelker said Homestead is a promising market with activity from the Waterfront and bike traffic along the Great Allegheny Passage. He said the brewery wants this location to become part of the community fabric.

This will be the second brewpub to open in the borough. The brewery and restaurant chain Rock Bottom has an operation in the Waterfront.

Homestead borough manager Ian McMeans said he is extremely excited about the sale of the building and Voodoo's plans to restore it.

“They're taking a historic, vacant structure and redeveloping it to make it a community asset,” he said. “This building will receive a good bit of investment.”

The building has been vacant for about 25 years. Council rezoned the structure for commercial use last fall with the hope of making it more marketable. Previously, the building was zoned for public use only.

Council president Lloyd Cunningham said it took several months of negotiations to finalize the deal.

Voelker said he hopes to close on the building's sale within the next 60 days.


13 June, 2014