Demolition begins on old Fort Pitt Brewery in Jeannette
JEANNETTE, Pa. (KDKA) -- Tuesday afternoon marked the end of an era in Jeannette as demolition began on the old Fort Pitt Brewery.
Mark McNabb, the owner of GEMM Demolition, says that his small team has their work cut out for them.
"We are going to start with all the lower structures and then get them down and crushed up," McNabb said. "Send them through the crusher and crush everything to about a three-inch minus. Then, we are going to have to build a small ramp to get to the higher part."
McNabb says that they anticipate the demolition will take four to five months, and he says that they will use a lot of water to capture airborne dust particles to minimize how much dust is put into the air.
KDKA-TV spoke with several neighbors who live nearby, and they said that dust is only part of what they are worried about.
"A lot of people are concerned about the rodents and everything," said Gladish. "My fiancé and I are worried about it. They should give everybody rat traps and whatever we need for the rats."
Ethan Keedy, the Jeannette City Manager, says that the property is now owned by the Westmoreland County Land Bank and that they have done their due diligence by having pest control going in and out of the site for the last several weeks, baiting and trapping.
Keedy also said people have high hopes for this site once this eyesore is gone.
"The goal is, hopefully, by the end of this year, it will be completely demolished," said Keedy. "We have a business that wants to come in, develop, and set up down in the industrial park and provide jobs and resources to the city of Jeannette."
The City of Jeannette says that anybody who lives close by and is having an issue with the demolition should contact the Westmoreland County Land Bank, which is overseeing this project.
More information can be found on the organization's website.