With signs and megaphones in hand, protesters gathered at the refinery entrance Monday for 10 hours in a stand of solidarity with Hilco Redevelopment Partners — the company that recently purchased the site in an auction.
"I think there's something about the firmness of people being willing to hold this space for so long. We're showing we're in it for the long haul," said Philly Thrive's Rachel Merriman-Goldring.
She says Hilco has a past of turning sites into sources of sustainable energy, which is something that bodes well with them.
"What we want to see happen on the site is a transition from a refinery to something that protects the health and safety of our communities," she added.
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Rodney Ray — a Grays Ferry resident and member of Philly Thrive — says he worked at the refinery for a number of years and over that time, he's felt its effects firsthand.
He says he wants this site to change for the better so no more workers or members of the community go through what he's dealing with.
"Windmills, or solar energy, that sort of thing, but not a refinery," Ray said of what he hopes the refinery's future will be.
Merriman-Goldring says other groups who bid on the site don't want to see it change from what it was and they are hoping during a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Hilco is confirmed as the owner.
"There are a group of folks that are pushing for it to instead be reopened as a refinery," she said.
Last week, building trade workers gathered outside City Hall, fighting to keep the refinery a refinery.
"We are prepared to fight until we get our jobs back and we want them to hear us: Save our jobs," one speaker yelled at the gathering.
Another speaker at that event said 36,000 workers made part or all of their salary from the refinery.
The hearing to confirm the new owner of the site is scheduled for Thursday.