By Patrick Cooley
GROVE CITY — Less than a week after Wendell August Forge was all but lost in a massive fire, craftsman Jeff Brown was back at work Thursday, hammering away at a die in the company's temporary workshop.
The sound of Brown’s hammer reverberated throughout the workshop at Cooper Industrial Commons on Lincoln Avenue in Grove City as friends and family of Wendell August employees, community members and local media crowded around the craftsman.
Brown was working on a metal plate in the shape of a ticket to the Pittsburgh Penguins final regular season game at Mellon Arena. The hockey team has ordered 20,000 of them to commemorate the April 11 milestone and the company is furiously working to have them ready.
That particular piece marked the restarting of operations for Wendell August after a fire Saturday that consumed the historic forge and the company’s store on North Madison Avenue in Grove City.
Company president Will Knecht said the ceremony was the beginning of a new era for the forge. “This isn't just part of a die right now,” Knecht said. “This is part of our history.”
Knecht said they will continue to take orders for their products while the forge is rebuilt at the original location, something he said the company has estimated will take a year to 18 months.
According to Grove City fire chief Jeff Badger the fire was caused by a ventilation fan that had broken in the forge workshop.
Wendell August is still looking for a new location for the retail store they had at the forge. Knecht said they have narrowed it down to a couple of locations and could decide early as Monday.
Knecht said he still doesn’t have an exact dollar figure for what was lost in the blaze but said the company’s insurer has told them rebuilding will cost several million dollars.
The dies the company uses to stamp some of its signature products were saved from the fire. On Thursday, several employees used sandpaper, special oils and a flat stone to rub off the dirt and debris that that the fire left on many of them.
“Our insurance company tells we have three days to save all of them (before the damage becomes permanent),” he said, adding that they are on pace to be done by today.
Grove City borough councilman Rich Talbert, who said over the weekend that he hoped the company would work aggressively to get their operations back up and running, said Thursday that he was impressed with how quickly they were working to get their products out to customers.
“Frankly, I was blown away,” he said. “The borough doesn't want to lose the forge from a historical standpoint or a jobs standpoint.”
Grove City Mayor Randy Riddle was also on hand on Thursday, and said it was important for the community to have Wendell August continue its operations.
“I'm certainly optimistic,” he said.
Knecht said that all of Wendell August's 55 employees in Grove City had been working very hard since this weekend to get the workshop back up and running.
The forge was established in the 1920s, moved to Grove City in the 1930s, and was bought by the Knecht family in 1978.
It has produced a number of historical pieces over the years and collectors are passionate about the forge’s hammered metal products.
