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Razing of the former Peppi's Meats building in Bel Air got under way Friday. The building, now owned by Harford County Government, has been vacant since 2006 when the popular butcher shop and delicatessen closed. A New Jersey company has a $158,230 contract for building demolition and asbestos removal.

user comments (4)

user beth says...

i understand the health departments concerns that eventually closed Peppi's. I still wish they'd were "grandfathered" in because closing them down really sealed the death of hometown, downtown Bel Air... now we're just like every other suburb with a Best Buy and a Walmart. Demolishing the building just makes the "suburbanizing" of our town that much more vivid. We're not our own town any more... just another bedroom town for Baltimore.

Posted 11:23 AM, 12.05.09

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user phtsearch says...

Joseph Julius Simmeth - no one remembers or cares apparently was a war prisoner for 6 years at the hands of the Soviets and upon being released decided to settle in Bel Air because it reminded him of his hometown in Bavaria. So he established Peppi Meats - sure, he's passed away now - but I'm certain Bel Air doesn't look or feel like his hometown anymore...In early 1959, in search of a small town that reminded him of Bavaria, he moved again - to Bel Air, where a brother and sister had settled. "It was like a dream almost," he told a Sun reporter in 1968

Posted 10:10 AM, 12.30.09

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user emmorton says...

Actually it was no secret that he fought for the Nazis in WWII. I remember walking to Peppi's for some of their fresh Italian sausage to put in my homemade sauce. It was wonderful!

Posted 10:18 AM, 01.27.10

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user ciel says...

Beth I completely agree with your sentiment. Bel Air seems bent on destroying everything that gave it charm...so much for "Charm City", hu? It seems to have joined the throw away society.

Posted 10:48 AM, 02.03.10

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