ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — SPS Technologies, the aerospace fastener company whose Jenkintown factory burned down in February, revealed its plans for a new facility Thursday night. It aims to be operational in 2028.
The cause of the Feb. 17 explosion is still unknown, but officials have ruled out foul play. They said it wasn’t from chemicals either, and nothing hazardous was found in soil and air samples. The fire started in an air compression system.
Community Relations Manager David Dugan said SPS wants to be back up and running on Highland Avenue as soon as possible, but the company doesn’t want to cut corners.
“We want to build a world-class facility,” he said at a community meeting Thursday night. “We’re going to put hundreds of millions of dollars into this facility, and we’re going to do it right. We want to bring it up as fast as we can, but we’re not going to sacrifice the quality of the operation.”
That would include getting LEED certification and safer parking and ventilation than its century-old predecessor. The modern, environmentally conscious facility would also occupy a smaller space on the same plot of land.
Abington Township Commissioner Matthew Vahey said SPS has been exceptionally cooperative.
“They’re not pushing back on the things that the typical corporation coming to this community would push back on,” he said. “Our zoning code is rigorous, and they’re not fighting us on those standards. They wanna build to the code.”
SPS Technologies currently employs about 250 fewer factory workers than it did before the fire. They are working at a temporary location in Langhorne.
Tony Manco worked at SPS for 47 years, up until the fire. He said getting a staple of the community back is more important than gaudy blueprints.
“I don’t think the building really matters that much. SPS was the people that worked there,” he said.
“We value the community,” Dugan added. “Our employees live here, and we’re part of the community. We want to be responsible. We look forward to building this facility over the next couple of years and then growing from there.”
The public can keep up with the progress and submit feedback at spsupdates.com.