Rebuilt Frick's Lock Village Unveiled

Exelon and East Coventry Township officials reopened Frick's Lock Village on Friday after a nearly ten-year project to restore the historical buildings. 

According to a press release from Exelon, the property was purchased when the Limerick Generating Station was built in 1969. 

Frick's Lock was originally a farm owned by John Frick. The canal and its two locks, Lock 54 and Lock 55, were built in 1824. It operated until the railroad took away the coal shipping that kept the canal running, and the canal closed in 1930. The village was an agricultural village until it was was vacated in 1969 because most of the buildings are on company property and couldn't be occupied after the station was built. 

The area was placed on the National Historical Register in 2003. In 2011, Exelon agreed to rehabilitate seven buildings in the area and protect the village with fencing. Four buildings outside the proposed fenced area were mothballed.

The East Coventry Historical Commission will take over running the historical site now that the refurbishing is complete, and the area will be open for tours at some point in the future. When the Schuylkill River Trail is done, it will run past the rebuilt village. 

"The rehabilitation of Frick’s Lock Village was a true community partnership,"said Chris Mudrick,Exelon Senior VP of Mid-Atlantic Operations said in a press release. "The Township had a clear vision for transforming this historic site into a community attraction and Exelon was happy to help make that vision a reality."

“The realization of Frick’s Locks Village as a historical site and destination within the Township is very exciting,” said Mariea Geho, Vice Chair, East Coventry Township Board of Supervisors in a release. “The rehabilitation work performed by Exelon has given the Village renewed life and brought our history into focus. The community has benefitted from our partnership with Exelon to preserve Frick’s Lock Village.”