Current owner of the former McCormick's Market Shawn Kozar still has some of the original refrigerators from when it was an open store as he works to renovate the space in Penn Township on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

Shawn and Jen Kozar and Ed Thaner called for the help of the Penn Township and the Butler County community to find a photo of a general store on Brownsdale Road in the hopes that it could save them about $6,000 in inspection fees for the facility.

The catch? The photo of the building needs to be from April 1927 or before, because that is when the state passed Pennsylvania’s Fire and Panic Act, which set basic requirements for fireproofing in structures across the Commonwealth. Under section 403.28 of Pennsylvania’s Uniform Construction Code, any building without a certificate of occupancy, but was built before April 17, 1927, is deemed to be legally occupied “until the owner proposes to renovate, add an addition, alter or change the occupancy of the building.”

The trio’s attempt to crowdsource a photo from almost 100 years ago is admirable — some residents of the area said they recall a store occupying what was most recently McCormick’s Market for as long as they can remember. And $6,000 is nothing to shake a stick at when it comes to building and renovation costs.

It’s a unique solution for a potential cost-saving method, so long as people come through with an image of the building. The couple who want to open a store in the building, the Kozars, said they could pay $6,000 for inspection fees, since the building needs renovations anyway, but went out on a limb at a township supervisors meeting to plead their case to other residents.

Who knows if the people will come through with a photo that will be enough evidence for the township to forego the fire inspection requirements, but it’s an effort that maybe more people will look into after even hearing about the Kozars’ attempt. You never know what kind of documents or pictures people are holding on to.

— ET