After years of work, the fifth floor of 100 Seneca opened for business during the past year. Meanwhile, work continues on the first floor, which is slated to open later this year.
“The opening of the fifth floor and the makerspace were two monumental things in 2024. The fourth quarter of 2024 was about breathing life into the building,” said Emily Lewis, executive director of the Venango County Economic Development Authority.
100 Seneca was originally built as a bank in the 1920s. It later sat vacant for a number of years after the five-story, 50,000-square-foot bank closed in the 1990s.
The building was purchased by Venango County in 2017 and turned over to the Economic Development Authority in 2018.
Since then, a multiyear rehabilitation of the building, largely paid for with grants, has been undertaken to give 100 Seneca a new lease on life.
“I’m very excited we are following through on the things we said we would do....It is what the community deserves,” Lewis said.
A look at 2024
Work began to fit out the fifth floor in January, as Massaro Corp., which has offices in Pittsburgh and Erie, was awarded the contract for work on the fifth floor of the building in late 2023.
During its February meeting, the authority awarded the contract for the first-floor work to Massaro at a cost of $6,105,000. In addition, Oil City resident Maureen James was welcomed to the board.
In the spring, Lewis said, a defective fireproofing coating on the steel beams was discovered. The coating had to be scraped off and reapplied by the same contractor during April and May.
In May, multiple holes were found in the building’s new roof that needed to be addressed, Lewis said.
In January of this year, Lewis said contractors were still “working through” the roof issues. The only leak, to date was in an unfinished part of the building after “really heavy snow.”
As the fifth floor neared completion ahead of schedule in June of last year, the authority approved the creation of a part-time makerspace manager to oversee that fifth-floor space and get the programing for it off the ground.
Marcy Hall, who owns Woods and River Coffee in Oil City, was hired as makerspace manager. Hall, an artist, previously ran the makerspace at the Erie Public Library and organized the programming there.
Supporting local businesses and artists by making equipment and training in various skills available is part of the goal of the makerspace.
“People want to make all kinds of things. For example, we have hardcore woodworkers who don’t know how to start a business. ... People want to make stuff and get together to make stuff,” Hall said last month.
The power of the makerspace, she had explained, lies in it being a space for people to come together to create, collaborate, solve problems and learn from each other.
She also sees it as a place for people to build confidence in their own creativity and learn entrepreneurial skills.
In August, as the finishing touches were put on the makerspace, the authority received two more grants and Lewis moved her office to the fifth floor.
The first was a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Business Development grant for $99,500, which will go to the Oil City Revolving Loan fund for businesses in Oil City.
The other grant was $30,000 from the PNC Charitable Trust for the makerspace development for equipment.
By the beginning of October, the office spaces, as well as a small conference room, a large conference room, a co-working space and the makerspace were open for use, and the rates for renting space on the fifth floor were set.
The ribbon-cutting for the makerspace was held in November. It is equipped with several 3D printers, a sewing machine, a cricket cutter and a large format printer that can print up to 36 inches wide, and plans to expand the makerspace offerings are in the works.
In December, the authority voted to create a Friends of the Makerspace nonprofit to enable businesses and others to donate to the makerspace and receive tax deductions.
“The makerspace has been well received and more busy than I thought,” Lewis said.
She said it has been great having the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce as a tenant on the fifth floor, as well.
A look at 2025
Lewis said work continues on the first floor of 100 Seneca, creating a “warm, lit shell” on the first floor that tenants can fit out for their own use.
The historic finishes, such as marble knee walls and flooring, wood paneling, decorative molding and the magnificent painted ceiling on the first floor will be preserved, according to Lewis.
Once the plumbing, HVAC and other work is complete, the main tenant, Side Hustle Brews and Spirits, will fit out the space to suit the needs of the restaurant, brewery and distillery, which will take up much of the first floor.
The plan is to name the restaurant with its distillery and brewery The Exchange by Side Hustle, according to its founder, Jeff Karns.
The name is a reference to the Oil City Oil Exchange that stood on the site of 100 Seneca in the late 1800s, where the worldwide price of crude oil was set for several decades.
Lewis anticipates the brewery will be able to open by June. In additiion, she continues to hear from prospective tenants.
“The chamber moving (to 100 Seneca) created a buzz; when Side Hustle signed a lease, we also got more interest,” Lewis said. “I am confident we can fill the building.”
Going forward, Lewis said she is looking at marketing the third and fourth floors. “They are most suited for office space, but we are open to ideas.”
