Final phase of former Jeannette Glass site redevelopment to start

Now that the former Jeannette Glass site is cleaned up, a stream running underground at the property will be opened in advance of a planned redevelopment project there.

Work will start Monday to “daylight” a portion of Old Bull Run Tunnel, the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. announced. The stream runs from Bullitt to Cassatt avenues.

In addition, Elliott Group got some final OKs from city council last week for the proposed project: a cryogenic pump test stand. City clerk Michelle Langdon said council approved a few matters requested by the company, including its land development plan.

Elliott Group has said the proposed facility — about 1.5 miles away from its U.S. headquarters elsewhere in the city — could be operational in 2020. The land development plan includes the addition of green space, trees and shrubs as well as security fencing.

“It’ll be pretty by the time they plant all the vegetation and everything,” Langdon said.

Some material removed while opening the stream will be used to build landscape mounds, the IDC said. Curry & Kepple, Inc. of New Alexandria will conduct that work and the replacement of a pipe from Cassatt Avenue into Brush Creek.

The IDC in March 2018 approved a resolution authorizing the sale of the 13-acre property to Elliott Group for $600,000. Elliott officials have been securing permits for the last several months, including an approval from city council to use the property on a conditional basis for heavy manufacturing.

The proposed facility and expanded manufacturing operations building cryogenic pumps and expanders at Elliott’s headquarters will add between 110 and 140 jobs to the company’s workforce in the city, officials have said.

Testing of those pumps and expanders will take place at the proposed facility prior to shipping.

The Elliott Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tokyo-based Ebara Corp., supplies compressors and turbines for liquefied natural gas plants.

The IDC bought the former glass site for $305,000 at a 2012 tax sale and, after years of legal challenges from the previous owner, embarked on a $6 million redevelopment project which has been funded by state and local dollars.

The majority of the work wrapped up last year and the stream opening will be the final phase.