A medical marijuana dispensary is on verge of opening in the former Camp Curtin Fire Station in the 2500 block of North Sixth Street in Harrisburg.
And the leader of Historic Harrisburg Association is applauding the work done by owners of the dispensary to preserve some of the historic features of the 1910 building. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981, after the city deemed it obsolete as a fire house.
For 30 years, it was home to a popular barbecue joint, Camp Curtin Bar-B-Que Station. The restaurant closed at the end of March, a few months after Harvest of South Central PA won a medical marijuana dispensary license for that location.
Renovation work has been underway since then to prepare the dispensary for its June 18 opening.
Harvest has preserved some historic features of the former fire station, including the facade and its bell tower, and will use business signs that conform to its historical character, according to spokesman Alex Howe.
David Morrison, executive director of Historic Harrisburg Association, said he’s glad to see the old fire station become home to a dispensary, since such a use will likely ensure the building is continuously used and maintained. He said he was especially glad Harvest has preserved the bell tower, which he said had been in danger of collapse or needing to be removed.
Such preservation was not assured. Although the building is historically significant, it’s not located in a historic district and not subject to any special protection. Its location in an economically distressed area increased the chances no owner would see fit to renovate it, he said.
Morrison said having a sustainable business occupying he firehouse increases the chances for additional improvements in the area.
“It looks like they’re doing a wonderful job,” he said. “It’s great for the neighborhood. It lifts the neighborhood up.”
Harvest of South Central PA is part of Harvest Health & Recreation Inc., based in Arizona. The company announced in April that it now held seven permits for medical marijuana dispensaries in Pennsylvania, with each permit allowing it to operate three locations -- more than the number allowed under state law.
The state Department of Health in April asked Harvest to produce records, apparently to determine whether Harvest is skirting the law which limits a single company from having more than five dispensary permits and 15 locations. The rule was intended to keep one firm from dominating the state’s medical marijuana market.
Harvest Health created seven separate companies - most of them limited liability companies with different ownership groups - to hold dispensary licenses around the state.
The status of the inquiry remains unknown, and it’s unclear what, if any action, the state will take. A health department spokeswoman on Friday said the “matter involves an ongoing legal process. Once it is resolved we can provide more information.”
Harvest was founded in Arizona, and operates dispensaries in that state and in Pennsylvania, as well as in California, Florida, Maryland, Ohio. Its website says it has plans to open locations in Massachusetts, Michigan and North Dakota.