'Blight monster' brewery site in West Jeannette to be torn down

The former Fort Pitt Brewery in West Jeannette is slated to be acquired by the Westmoreland County Land Bank at a judicial sale next month.

Brian Lawrence, director of the land bank and county Redevelopment Authority, said the buildings will be demolished, calling it a “unique opportunity” with American Rescue Plan funding that the Westmoreland County commissioners set aside for blight removal in seven communities, including Jeannette.

“This is one of those blight monsters we want to go after,” Lawrence said.

The crumbling red-brick multi-building complex, nestled between Penn Avenue and Clay Avenue Extension, has had ownership issues for years and caused headaches for city officials who try to keep vagrants and troublemakers out of it.

Frank Trigona’s Rufus Corp. bought the defunct Fort Pitt Brewery property in 2002. He died in 2015 and the executor — who also since has died — said at the time that the businessman’s estate didn’t have any way to pay delinquent taxes on the property, which date to 2005 and total more than $330,000.

Openings to the inside show fallen bricks, spray paint and old tires. Broken windows are visible on Penn Avenue. Several doors stand open or busted out. A large section of a rear wall has collapsed, and parts of several roofs are missing, including on one building that is separated from homes only by an alley.

A suspicious fire in July 2017 caused further damage. Then, part of a single-story building the size of a football field went up in flames, resulting in a partial collapse and water main break that flooded several homes.

Lawrence said the land bank’s bid at the Aug. 8 judicial sale will be for the costs incurred by the county tax claim bureau. He expects demolition to happen quickly after acquisition and any lien issues are resolved.

“I don’t want to sit on this property,” he said.

Past estimates for demolition stand at $1 million or more. The city has applied for funding and Lawrence said the American Rescue Plan money will complement what Jeannette receives.

Mayor Curtis Antoniak said he is grateful to county officials for the help.

“The county has done so much for us,” he said, adding that he hopes the property finds a use quickly and doesn’t end up empty like the former Monsour Medical Center on Route 30, which was the site of a similar demolition and redevelopment plan. A grass field has sprouted but no redevelopment plans have been announced though it was taken over by Colony Holding Co.

Another county-led acquisition, demolition and redevelopment plan at a dangerous eyesore took place at the former Jeannette Glass plant in the heart of the downtown, not far from the brewery. It has since been replaced by Elliott Group’s new cryodynamics testing facility. Public money was used in both projects that were spearheaded by the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp.

At the brewery site, Victor Brewing Co. was organized in 1907, with the capacity to produce up to 150,000 barrels of beer — making it one of the largest operations in the region, according to news accounts. It operated until Prohibition in 1920, employing about 350 people.

The company resumed operations when Prohibition ended in 1933 but went into bankruptcy in 1941. It was bought that year by Sharpsburg-based Fort Pitt Brewing for $350,000, according to news accounts.

Fort Pitt continued brewing at the plant until 1955. It consisted of 15 buildings on 6 acres — a three-story bottling building, a six-story brewery, a garage, warehouse, loading dock and other structures.

By 1956, the owner was considering other uses for the site and later sold much of the brewing equipment for $500,000 to a Mexican firm. The following year, the property was sold to Fidelity Trust Co. for $125,000, according to deeds. Papercraft Corp. expanded its gift wrap manufacturing operations there from its headquarters in Pittsburgh. The Jeannette plant continued operations until the mid-1970s, then was dormant for several years.

In the late 1980s, the property was sold to Laurel Mould for $226,000, according to a deed. The company produced plastic food containers and employed about 160 people. It’s unclear when manufacturing ceased.

The property was sold at sheriff’s sale in 2001 for $58,820 to First Union Small Business Capital.

It last changed hands a year later when Trigona’s Rufus Corp. bought it.