Owner says Black Rock Brewing in Pottsville closed permanently

Jun. 29—POTTSVILLE — Black Rock Brewing Co., which faces 67 code violations following a May 17 fire, is closed for good.

Owner Bobby Weaver, who told the Republican Herald of his decision Tuesday and posted it on his personal Facebook page Wednesday, blames politics and his bid for city council for the closure of the brewpub after a little over two years.

"Up until Monday ... I thought we were going to come back stronger than ever. I don't have it in me anymore," he said Tuesday while sitting outside the business. "If I wasn't running for political office, I would have been open a week after the fire."

Pottsville officials feel differently.

Fire Chief James E. Misstishin Sr. said Monday the business was still closed because he hadn't received a certificate of occupancy or a health inspection. He did not return a call for comment Wednesday after Weaver said he wouldn't reopen.

Mark Atkinson, a city council member and volunteer firefighter, blasted Weaver in a reply to his Facebook post.

"Bobby, don't blame city hall for your failures. First off, the city gave you the black rock building for FREE," he wrote.

Atkinson said it's sad that the business is closing, but in a phone interview Thursday he said that Weaver has been a "very difficult person to deal with. He's the type of person who doesn't believe the rules apply to him. He's now trying to blame the city for the failure of things he was responsible to do to maintain his business."

City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said the Pottsville Redevelopment Authority assisted in the acquisition of Black Rock by awarding Weaver a $100,000 forgivable loan. One of the stipulations was that he could not sell the property for five years. Weaver bought the property on March 19, 2020, according to the Schuylkill County Parcel Locator.

"It was a blighted, vacant building" for at least 10 years before Weaver bought it, Palamar said.

"It's really disappointing," Palamar said of the closure, noting the brewery was a great idea.

Weaver, who owns and operates several other relatively new businesses in the city, opened Black Rock in the historic former YWCA building at 325 S. Centre St. in April 2021. It has remained closed since the fire.

He said efforts to address code concerns following the fire have been "shot down, with emails and calls going unanswered or weeks between contact, and general correspondence hostile. We can't go on like this," he wrote on Facebook.

"Unfortunately, every plan we have submitted so far has been denied, despite being submitted and sealed by licensed architects," he wrote. "If the city of Pottsville government isn't willing to fight for this project and save a historic building, neither am I."

Weaver said in an interview that he submitted eight plans, but Palamar said he's been told there were three, one prior to the initial opening and two since then, the latest submitted June 23.

Justin Trefsger, code enforcement officer, did not return a call for comment Thursday. Palamar said that Trefsger was off Thursday.

Weaver notes in the post that he hopes the goodbye is not forever, but that he was going to focus on his two other businesses, Pressed Coffee & Books and Farlows Deli & Hoagies, noting that both won Readers' Choice awards in the annual contest by the Republican Herald.

9-page letter

A small fire near the kitchen grill started around 1 a.m. May 17 after the business had closed. A Pottsville police officer driving by noticed the fire and extinguished it before firefighters arrived.

Later that day, Misstishin posted a condemned sign that says the property is dangerous and unsafe and violates the International Property Maintenance Code. He said at the time that all properties are posted in that manner after a fire.

A May 19 letter from Trefsger and Misstishin, however, listed 67 violations that needed to be addressed before the business could reopen.

The nine-page letter offers details on code violations, including the presence of a deep fryer and flat-top grill for which drawings were never provided to the code office. It says updated drawings for the kitchen showing the layout of all equipment and use of it, and identifying a fire suppression system, must be submitted.

Three smoke detectors "shown on approved drawings" for the first floor are missing, the letters says, and in the basement, detectors are missing in the mechanical/furnace room, the hallway leading to the restrooms and in the men's room.

There was a detector in the women's restroom, the letter says.

It notes that no carbon-monoxide detector is installed in the hallway leading to the restrooms or the entryway on the first floor, "as per approved drawings."

The letter says emergency lighting at the southwest corner of the building in the basement "did not work when tested; needs to be repaired or replaced." Two other emergency lights in the basement, one on the cooler and one in the brewing room, are missing, it says.

Also noted among the violations is the lack of fire-rated doors, covers for junction boxes and heat detectors; and the lack of locks on restroom doors and an exterior door.

Highlighted previously was that a firefighter nearly fell out of a second-floor door that wasn't properly barricaded while attempting to ventilate the building the night of the fire, according to Atkinson and Mayor Dave Clews. Misstishin has declined to comment about the incident with the door.

The letter says the exit doors on the second floor for which there are no fire escapes needs to be blocked and exit signs and lighting removed.

Weaver showed during a tour of the building on Tuesday iron gates installed across the bottom half of the two doors and that the signs have been removed.

The letter from the city says a health inspection and a new certificate of occupancy permit are required before the business can reopen. Drawings for the building must be submitted and approved before a permit is issued, the letter says.

It said all violations must be addressed in 60 days or tickets and citations would be issued.

Contact the writer: amarchiano@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023