Greensburg Train Station to welcome new restaurant: Olives & Peppers

Pizza, pasta and other Italian staples will be on the menu at Greensburg's historic train station with the opening of Olives & Peppers restaurant.

A spokeswoman for the restaurant said an opening date has not been set. Renovations at the station are under way.

“We expect it to be relatively soon, but we leave that up to (owners Bryan and Courtney Williams) to decide when they are ready to go,” said Kay Kim, train station general manager.

Olives & Peppers will occupy the space vacated by The Supper Club in January.

Kim said several restaurateurs expressed interest in the property.

“I was blown away by the immediate response with numerous restaurants, both local and national, that contacted us about the space,” she said.

Kim, whose husband, Kirk Kim, and his partner, Greg Stone, own the station through their company StoneKim Properties LLC, said they were looking for a particular type of tenant.

They wanted a local, experienced restaurateur who would preserve the station's historical character as well as offer affordable prices and a menu that would attract people to downtown Greensburg.

Olives & Peppers fits the bill, she said. The restaurant already has locations in Richland and Penn Township.

Greensburg residents know and enjoy the existing locations, said Greensburg Planning Director Barbara Ciampini.

“We went there one evening and ran into like four other people from the city of Greensburg,” she said. “I think it's fantastic news, and the fact that they're going to occupy the historic train station is even better.”

The Greensburg Train Station was built in 1910 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Before StoneKim Properties, it was owned for nearly two decades by the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, which spent more than $3.5 million renovating it.

The trust sold the station , which was losing money, to StoneKim for $525,000 in 2015, with the stipulation that the historic look remain intact and the station is manned for the two daily stops of an Amtrak passenger train.

At the time of the sale, Westmoreland Trust President and CEO Michael Langer said the buyers were made aware of an expected $400,000 in renovations the station would require in the near future.

The molding has been refurbished, the bathrooms and kitchen renovated and the ceiling repainted in preparation for the new restaurant, Kim said.

In addition, renovations are ongoing on the station's basement, with plans to make it available to tenants next year, Kim said. The basement has been unused for decades.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.