It could be some time before Jodi Colella is able to host the full-sized wedding receptions, graduation parties and baby showers she’d like to at Station House 7 on Greensburg Street in Delmont.
But while she waits for covid-19 health and safety restrictions to ease, she is looking to bring hungry residents to a building that has a rich history in the borough by hosting weekly food truck events.
“We wanted to offer something to the community and not just be limited to private events,” said Colella, who started a “Wedding Flea Market” group on Facebook before trying out a conversion to a brick-and-mortar business.
“It just didn’t pay the bills,” Colella said. “But we had put a lot of time and money into the building, and people were talking about it, so we looked at renting it out for private events.”
Originally built in 1926 to house the Peoples National Bank, the building at the corner of Greensburg and East Pittsburgh streets was also home to the Delmont Volunteer Fire Department for several decades, before the department moved to its current station house on Route 66.
Colella arrived in January 2019, renovating the inside for her wedding resale shop, and while the change to hosting private events has gone well, and the building is still open for tours and potential bookings, the covid-19 pandemic slowed things down considerably.
“We started hosting the food trucks in June,” Colella said. “I haven’t counted the number of people, but I’ve definitely seen an increase.”
Colella charges the trucks a small fee to set up in her parking lot, “and they’ve all come back,” she said.
This Sunday will see the return of Earth, Wheel & Fire, Ash & Kris Kitchen, along with the Speal’s on Wheels food truck and T’s Concessions.
Food will be available from 1-6 p.m. at Station House 7, located at 7 Greensburg Street.
Colella said if it continues to be popular, she’d like to extend the food truck days into the fall.
“If we do that, I may move it to a weeknight, in case we book an event on a weekend,” she said.
For more, see StationHouse7.com.
