The Iron Works renovation project has begun.

Promoted by ardent supporters as a Catasauqua renaissance, Iron Works is an abandoned manufacturing site. The area is located on a vacant brownfield along Front Street.

A couple of weeks ago, a construction team began the removal of nonfriable asbestos panels from the plate shop building. That is the first portion of the deconstruction effort in the Iron Works project - specifically, asbestos abatement.

Construction teams are removing all the nonfriable asbestos panels from the outside of the building and then will demolish the steel structure. Nonfriable asbestos is not easily disturbed and, therefore, not released in the air to cause potential danger to people.

The plate shop building requires demolition because it bisects the property, making the planned new traffic circulation a problem.

The plate shop was deemed too difficult to repurpose in its present form. The consensus was to remove that building and a few of the ancillary buildings that are in a state of disrepair.

These early construction efforts started in December 2020 and will continue throughout 2021.

The plate shop building was used to promote the Iron Works project. There were two promotional parties held at the plate shop building that were open to the public. The first one was a festive event with food trucks inside the building in the fall of 2014 and was extremely well attended.

The second one was in June 2015, an outdoor event with vendors inside the plate shop building. The 2015 event was also well attended as support of the project grew among residents.

Millions of dollars in grant funding has been provided for this Catasauqua initiative. Millions more are expected over the coming years, according to project supporters.

Stay tuned on this project as it continues to go forward.