By Guy D’Astolfo
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – The new distillery-restaurant coming to East Palestine, Ohio, could change the town’s image and make it a destination for visitors.
It’s a big part of the recovery of the village that was turned upside down by the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train with toxic cargo.
That 2023 disaster cast a pall on economic development and the town has been in recovery mode ever since.
But the railroad industry remains part of the town’s identity – trains still roar through just about every hour – and will be part of its comeback.
The long-vacant freight depot at 58 W. Taggart St. is undergoing a transformation that will turn it into the newest Black Diamond Distillery location. The restaurant-pub, which will open in the spring, is the type of attraction that will draw people to a town that many have been trying to avoid.
An open house and complimentary bourbon tasting will take place there from 4-6 p.m. Nov. 14. Check the East Palestine location’s Facebook page for details.
Black Diamond Distillery is headquartered in Nelsonville, Ohio, near Athens, and has several locations in the southern part of the state.
The distillery-brewery prefers to locate in once-booming Appalachian towns, mostly in the state’s coal mining region, that are making a comeback.
Also in the works in East Palestine is a downtown coffee shop that will occupy a new building at 74 N. Market St.
The distillery-restaurant is the rarer of the two types of businesses and a unique choice for the historical depot structure.
How It Happened
Black Diamond found its way to East Palestine thanks to an economic development expert with southeastern Ohio roots.
Mike Jacoby, managing director of economic development at Columbus-based law firm Bricker Graydon, was working with the newly formed East Palestine Community Improvement Corp. on the town’s recovery. He previously was the director of Hillsboro-based Ohio Southeast Economic Development, and had worked with Black Diamond at that time.
Jacoby ran into Bret Adams, brand ambassador for Black Diamond, at an unrelated event and sparked his interest in the East Palestine depot.
The exterior of the old train station had recently been rehabilitated by its owner, Norfolk Southern. The structure also received a $250,000 state grant to fund its interior makeover.
The East Palestine CIC has a 99-year lease on the long, rectangular building, according to Barb Herriott, director of the agency.
“The depot had not been used for decades, and it’s a unique structure, kind of right in the middle of town,” Jacoby says. “As a part of the recovery effort, we always knew downtown revitalization needed to be a part of the plan. The railroad had dedicated that property to the village, and the community had been looking at ways to repurpose it.”
Black Diamond is attracted to historical properties and “has a business model that seems to work in Appalachian Ohio,” Jacoby says. “We had their business in mind as we went about the renovation, working with them on what they need, and structured a lease that makes it work for everybody.”
The East Palestine location will be Black Diamond’s first in the northern part of the state.
The company’s main distillery and brewery is in Nelsonville, where it also has a pub. Its other locations are in Marietta, Waverly, Circleville, Johnstown, Shawnee and Greenfield.
East Palestine was a good physical spot for the distillery, but the deal had to make sense on paper, too.
“We heard Black Diamond say, ‘look, we really like this building and would love to be a part of the comeback story of East Palestine’,” Jacoby recalls. “But this is a big divergence from what they normally do, and it presented a risk because they weren’t sure how the recovery would go.”
A public-private partnership was a key to making the project happen, Jacoby says, but the CIC is not taking an ownership stake.
“It’s a lease, but we’ve worked very hard to design a space that suits the company’s needs, and then structured a deal so that there’s not a huge sticker shock. As [the distillery] proves itself successful, we can escalate the rent.”
Adam Fowler, a partner with Black Diamond, confirms that the deal helped to lessen the risk and made the project palatable.
A Piece of History
The establishment checks a box on the list of improvements that townsfolk want. The recovery team had surveyed residents on ways to improve the community, and the top two suggestions were to open a brewery-restaurant and a coffee shop.
“We’re trying to accommodate both of those things,” Jacoby says. “We originally were thinking it would be a coffee shop with a coffee roasting operation and had planned it for the depot.”
The team soon realized the building was too big for that use.
The CIC has since acquired the downtown location that formerly housed a small bank with a drive-through. It has since razed the structure and hopes to break ground soon on the coffee shop, says CIC Director Herriott, who notes that the architectural work is already complete.
The distillery doesn’t have the luxury of getting a space custom-made to suit its needs. But the recovery team is embracing the 121-year-old structure and will preserve its unique design – and its historical quirks.
“There is graffiti inside the space, although most of it isn’t really graffiti,” Jacoby says. “It is writing on the wall that goes way back in time.”
The markings were written on the wooden walls by local companies that occupied space inside the depot that it used for receiving and shipping goods.
“The depot was built in 1905, and the writing probably goes back pretty close to that year,” Herriott says.
The writings will remain visible to guests at the distillery.
“They’re going to have the contractor carefully pull those boards off, insulate them and then put them back, to preserve the history of the building,” Jacoby says. “That’s going to be a unique feature of this property. It has the names of some of the businesses who were here years ago, so it will preserve that history.”
Herriott is particularly pleased with the appreciation for local history that the distillery takes.
“The fact that Black Diamond takes pride in honoring the history of the communities they do business in and recognizes the importance of our revitalization makes them a perfect partner,” she said.
Antonio Diaz-Guy, East Palestine village manager, noted that transforming an old train station into a modern restaurant is a complicated project all by itself.
“You’re working to integrate today’s utilities into a building that predates them, but that challenge makes this milestone all the more meaningful,” he said.
The Company
Black Diamond Distillery is a high-profile segment of Black Diamond Development LLC, which purchases and restores old buildings in the faded towns of southeastern Ohio, with a goal of restoring vitality.
The company’s inaugural project was in Shawnee, Perry County, where it restored about 10 buildings, according to Fowler, a Black Diamond partner.
A doctor’s office, part of the Genesis Healthcare group, was created in the town. “It was the first doctor’s office in Shawnee in about 75 years,” Fowler says.
The group also created its first hospitality business in Shawnee: a Black Diamond Distillery pub.
“We want to create gathering spaces for people to enjoy,” Fowler says, as a way of making the town welcoming to residents and outsiders.
All Black Diamond Distilleries are operated by managers who are hired from within the community. “They operate the locations,” Fowler says. “Our partnership manages them at an arm’s length.”
A greater purpose for opening the distillery-restaurants aligns with the development firm’s goals: to create fun public spaces that will entice other businesses to locate in town, he says.
The Black Diamond Distillery chain employs approximately 90 across all of its locations. So far, no staff has been hired for East Palestine, but interviews will take place in the coming months.
The Menu
Each location offers food, but the menu varies from place to place.
“The Black Diamond menu in Nelsonville is kind of comfort pub food,” Fowler says.
“Johnstown has steaks on it and pub food, and then Waverly has everything from pastas to seafood on up.”
The menu for East Palestine hasn’t been finalized, but the owners will likely make it a bit more creative.
“I think East Palestine is going to have nice table service, higher-end,” Fowler says. “Not a high-end steakhouse, but not fast-food either. We want to be somewhere in the middle price-wise, where it’s affordable.”
Flatbread pizzas and sliders are popular items at other locations and likely will be offered at East Palestine.
“We’re still developing all that as we work our way through it,” Fowler says.
The distillery will likely be open from Wednesday through Sunday, which is the norm for the chain, but will adapt according to what local customers want.
“We do have some that are open seven days a week,” Fowler says. “It’s kind of a supply and demand thing.”
The distillery will offer a full bar menu, but will naturally highlight its own products.
“We think we’ve got some good products between beer and bourbon,” Fowler says. “And a pretty good vodka. We’re getting ready to release another line of bourbon, but we also want to be gathering spaces for people to come and just relax and unwind and get some good food.”
It will have an indoor seating capacity of 44, plus a bar with 18 stools. The deck will seat 28.
The site will also have outdoor seating that will face the railroad tracks.
“People will be able to watch the trains roll by,” Fowler says.
All Black Diamond-made spirits and beer sold at East Palestine will be produced at the main location in Nelsonville and trucked in. The company produces three types of bourbon and eight beer varieties.
The distillery originated as part of a course in distilling that was launched in 2018 at Hocking College in Nelsonville. The distillery was originally in New Straitsville, but the college later moved it to Nelsonville and created a pub to go with it.
The distillery later became a separate company owned by Black Diamond Development, although the college still offers distilling and brewing courses and uses the Nelsonville site for instruction.
Pictured at top: The former East Palestine freight train depot, which sat unused for decades, is being restored. It will open in the spring as a Black Diamond Distillery and Restaurant.
