A Brooklyn-based company said it hopes to build a steel plant for the 21st century at the former site of a J&L Steel facility in Aliquippa.

On Tuesday morning, with a stage covered in red fabric backed by a structure displaying photos and videos of the history of 72 Steel, company representatives and local officials celebrated their optimism of opening a plant at Aliquippa Industrial Park along the Ohio River with speeches, confetti and golden shovels to break ground.

The site was decorated with inflatable red pillars and arches, flags bearing the 72 Steel logo, and a memorial stone made to commemorate the day.

But 72 Steel is still working to close the deal on the 44 acres it wants to buy before it can submit permits and start construction on the $218 million project.

Ultimately, the plant would produce 500,000 tons of steel, the company said. Established in 2016, the company makes products for the construction industry, such as rebar. It has locations in New York and New Jersey.

The company hopes to begin production in 2025 and employ about 300 people, according to Xiaoyan Zhang, the senior business adviser for 72 Steel. The site’s current owner, Chuck Betters, said he believes in the project. During the morning event, he pledged to invest $1.5 million in the project — that financial injection would occur within seven days of a deal closure, he said.

“My father, my grandfather, aunts, uncles, they all worked here,” Betters said from the stage. “I’m a little choked up. I hope God guides us in the right direction.”

Huabin Lin, board chairman of 72 Steel Group, credited President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with spurring the company’s plans for Aliquippa.

“Our groundbreaking ceremony today is laying the foundation for future growth and success,” Lin said through an interpreter. “I believe that after this ceremony, our project will progress smoothly and in the future where you’re sitting right now will become the new plant. After the completion of this new plant, we will have a larger celebration, a bigger party, a better ceremony to commemorate that.”

The company had considered sites in West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina but “fell in love” with Pittsburgh, according to Zhang, the senior business adviser.

Zhang, who has lived in the Pittsburgh area for 40 years, said the company is comprised of Chinese American entrepreneurs who are building “their American dream.”

“The investment is coming from individual entrepreneurs and some institutional investors,” Zhang said. “They’re still in the formation process, but the company has made a decision that this is the place.”

Construction would include the primary steel production facility, including an electric arc furnace, air and water pollution control equipment, subsurface infrastructure, roadways and parking facilities, product storage and ancillary buildings.

Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker noted that his father worked at the former tin mill.

“I can’t wait to see cars come through that tunnel with stickers on them saying ‘My kid goes to Hopewell,’ ‘My kid goes to Beaver Falls,’ ‘My kid goes to New Brighton,’” Walker said.

“You got the three R’s — rivers, roads and rails,” Walker said. “Look at that hillside. This is a beautiful place.”

Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., once one of the country’s largest industrial steel producers, operated a tin mill from 1910 until 1988 when the Aliquippa Works was closed and demolished.

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