Category Archive: Main & Elm Street Programs
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McKeesport Invests in Itself
Thursday, June 24, 2010The mayor calls it a renaissance. The school superintendent calls it a revitalization. Both agree that more than $80 million worth of construction and upgrades will make Mc-Keesport a more attractive city.
The school district is expected to break ground this summer on its $46.4 million plan to build two new elementary/intermediate schools and renovate a third. The first of three public hearings for that plan began yesterday.
“It’s going to revitalize the entire community,” said Michael Brinkos, superintendent of the McKeesport Area School District.
Mayor James Brewster said having new schools would help with retention.
“When most people go buy a home, they look at the school district first,” he said. “We want our schools to be attractive for someone who is considering a move to our city.”
With upwards of $40 million in infrastructure upgrades throughout Downtown Mc-Keesport, Mr. Brewster said he hoped more businesses would be attracted to the city. “I’m … trying to sell this city to businesses,” said Mr. Brewster, who worked as vice president of retail operations at Mellon Bank for 27 years before entering public service.
The city’s projects are funded mostly by state and federal dollars, according to city clerk Patricia Williams, and include:
• $1.1 million face-lift to West Fifth Avenue
• $1.3 million Streetscape Project
• $540,000 improvement to the walking trail
• $700,000 Marshall Drive Extension
• $33 million Mansfield Bridge renewal.
Improvements to the walking trail and the Marshall Drive Extension were completed in May, the W. Fifth Avenue and Streetscape efforts are under way, and work on the Mansfield Bridge will begin in 2011.
City Controller Ray Malinchak agrees “those things need attention. … We have to make the city more attractive.”
The work being done along West Fifth Avenue involves the removal of old streetcar tracks and resurfacing the Tenth Ward between Rebecca and John streets. Donegal Construction Corp. is assigned to the job.
The Streetscape project is designed to renew Fifth Avenue throughout the city’s business district and seeks to make the avenue a two-way street between the Palisades and Coursin Street. The street will be widened, the curb lines will be moved back, new asphalt will be poured, and a new sidewalk will be added as needed.
New lighting, benches, planters, signs, handicap ramps, catch basins and gas lines also are included in the work, which is being done by Power Contracting Co. of Carnegie. Traffic signals also are being added at Market and Walnut streets.
Finished last month, the Marshall Drive Extension adds a traffic signal and links Haler Heights to Route 48, providing a safer passage for Serra Catholic High School students and patrons of Tom Clark Chevrolet.
The work was done by 12th Congressional Regional Equipment Co. Inc., a Blairsville nonprofit created by the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, who wanted to use excess military equipment for local government projects.
Upgrades to the walking trail include improved parking areas, signs, lane striping and the completion of a trail cul-de-sac at the point where the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers meet. The trail is part of the Great Allegheny Passage, a network of hiking and biking trails spanning 150 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md.
The trail improvements could be McKeesport’s greatest draw, according to Hannah Hardy, vice president at Allegheny Trail Alliance, a partnership of seven trail organizations based throughout southwestern Pennsylvania and western Maryland.
“We’re seeing huge development in trail towns already and expect to see more,” she said.
Small businesses like ice cream shops and delis have been popping up as part of that growth, she said.
“We’re providing opportunities for businesses and making McKeesport a safer, more beautiful place to live,” Mr. Brewster said. “We see this as our renaissance.”
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Facade Improvements, Parking Lot Planned in McDonald
Thursday, June 24, 2010By Andrea IglarIn the early 1900s, tax revenues from booming oil and coal industries funded construction of the buildings that make up McDonald’s business district to this day.
In more recent years, however, the advent of malls and other factors drew many customers away from town, but borough leaders are taking action to build on McDonald’s rich architectural heritage to attract more businesses and shoppers.
The borough is kicking off two revitalization efforts — a program to help downtown property owners improve their building facades and construction of a public parking lot for patrons of local businesses.
“There’s a big opportunity for the downtown area to thrive again, and that’s why we’re doing this,” said Tim Thomassy, head of borough council’s community development committee.
McDonald will offer $45,000 in matching grants to help owners and tenants of historically significant buildings make aesthetic storefront improvements, such as painting, pressure washing, adding awnings and replacing damaged structural materials. The amount of each grant will depend on the type of project and the total number of applications, Mr. Thomassy said.
Details of the grant program will be discussed at a public meeting at 7 p.m. today in the borough building, 151 School St.
The borough has invited the eligible owners of businesses and commercial properties that front North and South McDonald streets, between Robinson Run and the intersection with North Street, and also those that front East and West Lincoln avenues, between Station and Arabella streets.
To build a public parking lot, the borough this month is purchasing a $65,000 vacant parcel between East Barr and East O’Hara streets.
Once constructed in the fall, the parking lot will provide at least 50 spaces for shoppers, Mr. Thomassy said.
“The location is ideal because, with the façade program and other things we have going on, we’re trying to improve the downtown area so we can make it more enticing to bring new businesses into town, as well as improve the climate for existing businesses,” Mr. Thomassy said.
Both redevelopment programs are being funded partly by grants from Washington County’s share of gambling revenues.
The façade improvement program is financed with $30,000 from the gambling revenues, $13,000 from the borough and $2,000 from the McDonald Area Redevelopment Association, a nonprofit citizens group.
Purchase and construction of the parking lot will be covered by a $130,000 grant from the gambling revenues, plus $30,000 from the borough, $1,000 from MARA and a $105,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
A 2006 study of McDonald’s business climate, conducted by Pittsburgh consulting firm Mullin & Lonergan Associates Inc., recommended refurbishing buildings and creating a municipal parking lot.
McDonald’s business district has great potential to provide an alternative to malls and big-box stores for shoppers to come from North Fayette, South Fayette, Cecil and Mount Pleasant Township, Mr. Thomassy said.
He said McDonald’s location is attractive because it includes part of the Panhandle Trail and Route 980.
“We have a neat little town that needs sprucing up,” Mr. Thomassy said. “And if we do that, with the things that are going on around us — with the trail and the highway and all of that — we think we can really revive the downtown area.”
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A Day in Bedford County is a Reviving Trip Back in Time
By Rege Behe, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, June 21, 2010Bedford, a little more than 120 miles east of Pittsburgh, might be best known for being the stop on the Pennsylvania turnpike before Breezewood. But this charming town, settled in the early 1750s, is awash in history and nostalgia. First known as Raystown, the town took its current name from the British fort established there in 1759. It became a key site in the Whiskey Rebellion, with President George Washington arriving there in 1794 with 13,000 troops in tow.
Today, it’s a cozy small town that looks and feels like a Norman Rockwell painting. The shopkeepers are friendly, the town is clean and manageable, and there’s even ample free parking for visitors.
10 a.m.
Old Bedford Village successfully re-creates the feel of an 18th-century village, with about 50 buildings on the grounds reassembled from sites in Bedford County. There’s everything a family from that period would need — a doctor’s office, carriage house, general store, schools and a church — along with period-specific crafts such as a whitesmith (a tin maker) and a basket shop. Re-enactors often are present, notably the blacksmith and coopersmith. Feather’s Bakery serves great cookies and other snacks, and, on certain days, the Pendergrass Tavern (modeled on the pub that sat outside the walls of Fort Bedford in the 1750s) serves simple repasts from days of yore. Make sure you say hi to Jack, the white cat with brown, black and gray markings, who roams the grounds as the unofficial mascot.
Upcoming events include Gunfiight at the OK Corral on Saturday and Sunday, and an 1820s Weekend on July 17 and 18.
Old Bedford Village, 220 Sawblade Road, Bedford. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Labor Day; closed Wednesdays. After Labor Day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays. Admission: $10 adults, $5 students, under 6, free. Details: 800-238-4347 or here.
Noon
Head south to Bedford, just a few minutes away. The downtown area has the feel of mid-20th century America, with small shops and restaurants lining the streets.
For lunch, stop at the Green Harvest Company, which features a variety of teas, coffees, pastries and breakfast and lunch entrees. The decor is simple but comfortable, and many of the menu items are fit for the health-conscious. Notable was a tropical shrimp wrap ($6.65), which featured chilled shrimp, greens, pineapple, coconut, onions and green peppers.
For bargain hunters and antique collectors, Founder’s Crossing is a must. Located in a building that once was home to a G.C. Murphy’s store, the co-op of 145 dealers features three floors of crafts and collectibles, from old photos to housewares and jewelry to knickknacks. Plan on spending at least an hour here browsing through the many items. There’s also a small cafe, The Eatery, on site.
Details: The Green Harvest Company, 110 E. Pitt St.. Hours: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays. Details: 814-623-3465 or here.
Founders Crossing, 100 S. Juliana St. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays; noon to 3 p.m. Sundays. Details: 814-623-9120.
2 p.m.
Stop at the Bedford County Convention Bureau for a walking tour. From a Civil War monument to Fort Bedford to the Espy House, where George Washington commandeered troops to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, it seems there’s a remnant of history on almost every street corner. A self-guided walking tour of downtown Bedford takes about 30 minutes. Every Friday through the end of October, free guided tours are offered at 3:30 p.m. starting at the convention bureau, and lasting about 90 minutes.
There are 14 covered bridges in Bedford County, ranging from Turner’s Bridge, which sits off a gravel road near Mann’s Choice, to Snook’s Bridge just north of Spring Meadow. Ten of the bridges still are drivable (four are privately owned, but accessible for photos). A complete tour takes up to three hours, but shorter tours can be mapped that last half that time. It’s possible to visit just one or two bridges. Maps and other information are available at the Bedford County Convention Bureau.
Details: Bedford County Convention Bureau, 131 S. Juliana St. Details: 800-765-3331 or here.
6 p.m.
No visit to Bedford County is complete without a stop at the refurbished Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa. Since it opened in 1806 as the Bedford Springs Resort, the property has hosted presidents, diplomats and celebrities, many of whom came to be nourished by the renowned restorative powers of the nearby springs.
The venue has been refurbished and re-opened in 2007 after years of decline. There are tempting dining options, notably in the elegant Crystal Room or the cozy Frontier Room, and live entertainment is offered on weekends. The setting, no matter what you’re there for, is simply breathtaking.
Details: Omni Bedford Springs Resort, 2138 Business Route 220. Details: 814-623-8100 or here.
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Small Movie Theaters Trying to Find a Niche in a Megaplex Era
Thursday, June 17, 2010By Kaitlynn Riely, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe seat folds down, the lights dim and the screen brightens. For most, the movie theater is a familiar experience.The Motion Picture Association of America, which collects detailed figures about movie trends, found that more than two-thirds of the U.S. and Canadian population saw a movie at a theater in 2009 and most people saw an average of 6.5.
Is it 2010 -- or 1939? It's hard to tell from the marquee above The Strand on Main Street in Zelienople. In the early 1980s, The Strand closed its doors, but it reopened last year.
In 2010, the movie theater experience, generally speaking, is the multiplex one. Small neighborhood movie theaters are dwindling, most pushed out by the rise of the multiplex and the fall of the weekly movie-going culture.
Nationwide, the numbers are not good for small theaters. When the motion picture association put out its 2009 report, the United States had 6,039 theaters. Of those, 75 percent were multi- or megaplexes, meaning they have at least eight screens; 21 percent were miniplexes, having two to seven screens; and only 4 percent were single-screen theaters.
A few of these small theaters in the Pittsburgh area are bucking the trend and staying open. Some — the Denis Theatre in Mt. Lebanon, for example — are trying to reopen and stake a place in their community’s future.
But bucking the megaplex is not easy; the past few months have seen the closing of several Pittsburgh-area movie theaters, such as the Squirrel Hill Theater and the Hollywood Theatre in Dormont, which had just reopened in August.
It’s survival of the fittest, and when it comes to community movie theaters, only a few are surviving.
Movies, radio once only choiceThere was a time when the community movie theater business was a booming one. Ed Blank, a film critic at the Pittsburgh Press for 25 years, can remember when it was not unusual for five to seven movie theaters to be within walking distance of his East End home.
In the late 1940s, when Mr. Blank began going to the movies, Americans were starting to buy television sets, but going to the movie theater remained a popular pastime.
“It’s very hard to get a grasp of this now, but they were where you went for the evening, if you weren’t going to listen to the radio,” Mr. Blank said.
But the passing decades, evolving technology and changing market desires resulted in declining numbers of local movie theaters. Television enabled people to watch programs at home, multiplexes gave moviegoers more options under one roof and VCRs allowed people to watch movies on demand.
So, the small movie houses started to die out.
The Strand, ZelienopleOne of the casualties, initially, was The Strand Theater in Zelienople. An Italian couple opened it in 1914, designating half of the building a fruit market, the other half a theater. It thrived for decades but could not compete with the rise of the multiplex and the VCR. In the early 1980s, The Strand closed its doors.
In 2001, Ron Carter was driving through Zelienople when he saw the old theater, in a state of decay, sporting a for-sale sign. Someone, he thought to himself, should do something.
He became that someone. Mr. Carter formed a board of directors, started a nonprofit and began the process of resurrecting The Strand. A combination of private donations and federal and state grants added up, and after two years of renovations, The Strand reopened in 2009.
It’s a happy ending worthy of a Hollywood script, but keeping the one-screen cinema open remains a challenge.
“We don’t try to compete with the multiplexes,” Mr. Carter said. “We focus on classic films, vintage films, as well as our live programs.”
A couple weeks ago, the theater ran a silent-film festival with musical accompaniment, the same type of show the theater presented when it opened in 1914.
The Strand is still learning as it goes, Mr. Carter said, trying to figure out what movies and performances people will pay to attend. Running The Strand as a nonprofit also involves educating people about the benefits of the traditional movie theater experience.
Denis Theatre, Mt. LebanonWhen Anne Kemerer talks about movie theaters, her face lights up. There’s no better way to watch a movie, she said, than to watch it in a theater with people who are laughing when you laugh and crying when you cry.
It’s a comfort place for her, she said, and fundamentally a communal experience.
Ms. Kemerer’s love of movies and belief in the movie theater is not a casual interest — it’s her full-time job. Since 2008, she has focused on resurrecting a small cinema on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon.
The Denis Theatre shut its doors in 2004 in a state of disrepair. Ms. Kemerer, executive director of the nonprofit Denis Theatre Foundation, is determined to see it reopen, which means $750,000 must be raised by June 30, when the purchasing option for the building expires.
Once the foundation owns the building, the renovation process can begin, which means raising more money to open one screen, start showing movies and re-introduce people to what Ms. Kemerer believes is the irreplaceable movie theater experience.
She envisions a three-screen theater that will show art films and also be used as rental space during non-movie hours, for training sessions, auditions, and film education.
As they near the June 30 deadline, the campaign has raised nearly $400,000, including a $100,000 grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation. They’ve also been promised a $155,000 grant from an anonymous foundation, if they can match that amount by the end of the month.
A ferocious winter postponed a major fundraiser for the theater twice, and when it finally was held, six inches of snow stranded some people at home. But no one asked for a refund, and the fundraiser brought in $32,000. It’s a sign that people, particularly South Hills residents, are getting behind the concept of a Main Street theater once again taking its place on Washington Road, Ms. Kemerer said.
“Virtually everyone I talk to wants it to succeed,” she said. “Virtually no one doesn’t want it to happen.”
On June 30, she’ll know whether the theater has made it to its first fundraising goal, to buy the theater.
Ms. Kemerer is confident the Denis will succeed.
“The Dormont and Squirrel Hill closing down was a wake-up call to people that Main Street theaters require the passion and commitment of everyone around them,” she said.
Ambridge Family TheatrePassion and commitment sometimes go a long way to keep a small theater open. In Ambridge, for example, Glenda and Rick Cockrum have been running the Ambridge Family Theatre for the past 11 years, since Ms. Cockrum, who had worked as an assistant manager with Carmike Cinemas, persuaded her husband to help her buy the one-screen theater.
They both work other jobs to support themselves, and by the end of the year, the theater manages to pay its own bills, she said.
But it’s a genuine family business where their daughter learned to count by working behind the concession stand.
The Oaks, OakmontRandy Collins, manager of The Oaks Theater in Oakmont, is working toward creating a special identity for his theater.
“We have to adapt,” he said.
The Oaks still shows a lot of first-run movies, Mr. Collins said, but it’s trying to capitalize on the movies that sell well in its market and exploring events that could capture the imagination of its audience, such as opera series and concert events.
Not all happy endingsTravel east to Latrobe, and a similar business model has not worked out. The Zimmerman family has been in the movie theater business for 50 years, though their focus is a drive-in. Five years ago, Lee Zimmerman decided to expand to include an indoor theater, the two-screen Latrobe Family Cinemas.
But the indoor theater never attracted enough patrons, perhaps because it was close to a multiplex, and in five years, Mr. Zimmerman lost $150,000 on the deal. Early this month, the family closed the indoor cinema to return their focus exclusively to the drive-in. Mr. Zimmerman said he’s not sure what will happen with the building.
It could be torn down like the old South Hills Cinema on West Liberty Avenue in Dormont, which is being razed to make way for a CVS pharmacy. Or it could sit empty like the Hollywood, also in Dormont, waiting for a new owner.
The Hollywood was, for a short time, a success story. A nonprofit based in Franklin, Ind., discovered it and poured time, money and effort into opening the single-screen theater again.
It remained open for less than a year.
Last month, Bill Dever, of the nonprofit, the Motion Picture Heritage, decided that the Hollywood, with meager attendance numbers, was no longer viable. It had gotten to the point that he was throwing good money after bad, he said in a phone interview, and he decided to close it.
A few weeks before announcing the theater would close, Mr. Dever was pessimistic about the state of the Hollywood and about the state of community movie theaters in general.
“What I see is, quite simply, that the whole idea of movie-going is going to be centralized in the home environment, and the whole idea of community film watching is going the way of the dodo,” he said.
Key to survivalFew would deny that the movie theater business is a difficult one, but some are not so pessimistic.
Screenwriter and producer Carl Kurlander, who teaches in the film studies department at the University of Pittsburgh, recently made the film, “My Tale of Two Cities,” about his return to Pittsburgh from Hollywood.
Pittsburgh, he reminds us, was the site of the birth of the modern movie theater, the Nickelodeon, in 1905.
The key to survival for movie theaters, he said, is reinvention. The movie theater that can reinvent itself, that can create a niche that no other business can fill, is the one that will survive.
“It’s hard for me to believe the city that literally invented the movie theater … is going to give up and not have one,” he said.
The national trendThe United States has 6,039 movie theaters with 39,028 cinema screens. As the industry continues to shift toward theaters with more screens, megaplexes — 16 or more screens — have become the main source of theater growth. The closing of single-screen theaters and miniplexes — two to seven screens — nationwide means that nearly half of the screens in the country are located in multiplexes — eight to 15 screens.
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Garden Theatre Plans in Works
By Sam Spatter, FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, June 17, 2010Five developers — three from out of town — are scheduled to present plans for redevelopment of the Garden Theatre block in the North Side to residents at a community meeting next month.
“This will give the developers an opportunity to explain their plans and for the residents to offer their comments,” said Mark T. Fatia, executive director, Northside Leadership Conference, which received the proposals this week.
The developers are considering a mix of residential and first-floor commercial, Fatla said.
The two local developers are Barron Commercial Real Estate of Pittsburgh and Aaron Stubna of Coraopolis.
The out-of-town developers are Resaca LLC of Bethesda, Md., Wells and Co., Spokane, Wash.; and Zukin Development Corp., of Philadelphia.
Fatla said developer Bill Barron has been active along Butler Street in Lawrenceville, and has started work along Federal Street on the North Side. Stubna is only interested in the Garden Theatre, which he would use for films and art projects.
Resaca, an apartment developer, is interested primarily in the Bradberry Building, a former department store.
Zukin, who recently purchased the drug store at Forbes and Murray in Squirrel Hill, is interested in historic preservation, a similar concept from Wells, which was attracted to Pittsburgh by Mike Edwards, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, who formerly served in that capacity in Spokane.
“It will be up to the residents and the conference board to select a developer or developers, since some proposals do not include all of the properties within the block,” Fatla said. That could occur by the end of summer.
The block is bounded by Federal Street on the east, W. North on the south, Reddour Street on the west and Eloise Street, on the north. A previous failed development attempt by Jim Aiello Jr. involved only the Federal Street site, which was 30 percent of the total block project, Fatla said.
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Homewood’s Cafe 524 Blends Community With Sustainability and Coffee
Pop City Media
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Cafe 524
A collaboration of community leaders is aspiring to create a bright, sustainable place for business development and coffee in a former Homewood post office.
More than just a coffee shop, Café 524 hopes to spur the rebirth of the Homewood business district and serve as a catalyst for sustainability and community activities. The cafe will be located at 524 N. Homewood Ave.
The project has been a work in progress for the past year, bringing together diverse partners to make it happen: the National Black Masters of Business Administration Association (NBMBAA), URA, Urban Design Building Studio (UDBS), The Homewood Children’s Village and PJ Dick Incorporated.
“It’s very much a collaborative effort that grew organically out of dialogue and community meetings,” says John Folan, director of Carnegie Mellon’s UDBS, a studio of interdisciplinary architecture students who are working on the design. UDBS’s mission is to develop climate appropriate building technologies for neighborhoods in Allegheny County.
“It’s a remarkable opportunity for the students, enabling them to work with the community and a real client, giving them a very real sense of working on a project with real partners and multiple entities,” Folan adds.
Café 524 will be net-zero, powered by a geothermal energy system, and serve as a community meeting place and arts and culture destination . The NBMBAA hopes to buy the building from the URA and run a business incubator and real estate business on the second floor to stimulate local business development. The first floor will be leased as a for-profit coffee shop, drawing patrons from the nearby bus stop and neighborhoods.
The project is an extension of another ongoing neighborhood project, the Homewood Children’s Village.
Construction will begin this August and be completed by the spring of 2011. The URA has offered the partners $100,000 toward the predevelopment costs. The collaborators hope to attract the interest of foundations and corporate sponsors we well.
Writer: Debra Diamond Smit
Source: John Folan, UDBS -
Scottdale Revitalization Committee Studying Designs for Borough Signs
By Rachel R. Basinger
FOR THE DAILY COURIER
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Last updated: 7:10 amThe Scottdale Town Center Revitalization Committee is studying the prospect of designing signs for the downtown area of the borough that will help direct visitors as well as provide historic information.
Jim Pallygus, chairman of the board of directors for the STCRC, told council Monday the committee was hoping to put about $3,900 toward the purchase of street signs, historical signs and possibly other types of signs throughout the borough.
“I was hoping we could get permission to begin designing some of the signs, such as the logo, the font, the size, etc., and then when we have something concrete we would bring it back to you for your input or recommendation,” Pallygus said.
Councilman Andy Pinskey presented a motion that requests the STCRC committee work with members of council’s public services committee and then come back to council with recommendations.
In other business Monday, council appointed Michael Mlay to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Pinskey voted against the appointment. Mlay will finish the term of Scott Miller, who recently resigned. The term expires May 1, 2011.
Mlay said he and his wife moved to Scottdale in 2008. He is a high school teacher in Greene County, and his wife is a teacher in the Ligonier Valley School District. He said they moved to the borough because it was a central location to both districts.
“We looked at all the different local communities, and what drew us to Scottdale was the parks,” he said. “There are so many that are so close, and they’re all so beautiful and so nice.”
Because this is now his home, Mlay said he and his wife plan to stay here and want to begin getting involved and setting down roots.
Resident Duane Huffman also had sent the borough a letter of interest about filling the vacancy, but he was not present at the meeting.
Because he was not in attendance to talk about his interest in the position, the majority of council voted to fill the spot with Mlay.
Pinskey said he voted no because Huffman didn’t have the opportunity to talk to council.
Because of the death of Mayor Chuck King’s wife, Nellie King, on Sunday, members of council recessed the meeting after public comment so they could visit the funeral home to give their condolences.
The meeting was recessed at 6:45 p.m.
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Historical Societies Foster Pride and Preservation
By Matthew Santoni
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Ronald A. Baraff, director of museums and archives for the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area, which chronicles the history and culture of the industries and mill towns along the rivers, visits the former Carrie Furnace steel mill site in Braddock. Rivers of Steel recently acquired the site from the county to turn into a museum. Sidney Davis | Tribune-Review
The statue of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Honus Wagner might stand outside PNC Park on the North Shore, but fans who desire something more can head six miles down the Parkway West to the Historical Society of Carnegie’s miniature museum to learn about its native son.
In a historic building along West Main Street, a small exhibit on Wagner shares space with yearbooks and photos from area schools, a memorial wall for the town’s military veterans, and a painstakingly crafted scale model of the borough’s buildings along East and West Main Street, all funded without help from the municipality.
“We support ourselves. We figured it was better to be people-funded rather than tax-funded,” said Marcella McGrogan, executive director of the society. “Our town’s streets and parking lots need the help more than we do.”
Volunteer Joan Harbin points out a model of the building housing the artifacts and exhibits on display at the Historical Society of Carnegie in the small museum on West Main Street. Keeping up with the maintenance of the building and expansion plans has been a struggle, but officials say local history groups, such as the Carnegie's, help to instill local pride and encourage tourism and redevelopment. James Knox | Tribune-Review
Carnegie is one of many communities in the region with a historical society, which officials say can encourage economic development by drawing tourists, instilling local pride and marketing a community’s historic assets.
“We have a ‘Babushkas and Hardhats’ tour … that looks at the development of the Pittsburgh region, why industry located here, why it isn’t here now and how Pittsburgh has reinvented itself,” said Ron Baraff, director of museums and archives for the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area, which chronicles the history and culture of the industries and mill towns along the rivers.
About 15 acres of the former Carrie Furnace steel mill site in Rankin and Braddock were transferred from the county to Rivers of Steel, and officials hope to turn the former blast furnaces into a museum.
“The idea is to bring people into the region and get them to understand that the past built the present, that that’s the foundation for the future,” he said.
About 15 acres of the former Carrie Furnace steel mill site in Rankin and Braddock were transferred from the county to Rivers of Steel, and officials hope to turn the former blast furnaces into a museum. Sidney L. Davis | Tribune-Review
How and why it helps
The Young Preservationists Society of Pittsburgh released a report last month estimating that preserving and restoring historic properties added at least $475 million to Southwestern Pennsylvania’s economy from 2003 to 2009. Local historical societies can encourage such redevelopment and reinvestment by making people more aware of the history of their communities and homes, said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“People tend to believe in the value of that area and are more willing to invest, particularly in historic buildings,” Ziegler said. “It can also develop visitor interest, which can bring income to a town.”
The Sewickley Valley Historical Society is too small to maintain a museum space of its own, but its library allows people to research the history of their families or their homes, said Harton Semple, executive director.
“We’re a small society — only about 400 members — but we have a rich history to draw upon,” Semple said. “We are assailed on all sides by development and general apathy, but we’re beating back that tide.”
The Sewickley Valley society’s “nest egg” was hit hard by the recession, but it has sustained itself with members who made donations above and beyond their yearly membership dues, Semple said. The group published a history of Sewickley last year, and is beginning a push to fund and erect historical markers around the area, he said.
The Historical Society of Mt. Lebanon charges a small fee for its “home history project,” which presents homeowners with a report on the architect who designed their houses, construction plans for them and any other tidbits that members of the historical society can dig up, said Executive Director Margaret Jackson.
Mt. Lebanon’s society is entering its second year of operating a small museum space off Washington Avenue, which hosts rotating exhibits on local subjects such as the nearby Washington School or the Mt. Lebanon Soccer League, Jackson said. More and more residents are donating artifacts and photographs, but that raises the new challenge of how to store and protect them all. Yearly contributions from the municipality’s budget are enough to cover rent on the museum space, she said.
“We’re slowly getting the word out that we’re here, that we’re not just for little old ladies,” Jackson said. “Mt. Lebanon is just celebrating our centennial. … Hopefully, we’ll preserve our community’s past for decades to come.”
The Westmoreland County Historical Society this week moved its library and museum space to a new location on Sand Hill Road, which is more accessible to the many people who use its archives to research their family’s past, said Executive Director Lisa Hays.
“What’s surprising is how far people will travel to study their genealogy. … We had people come from as far away as Australia last week,” Hays said. “Typically, one person will sit and do research while the rest of the family goes out and sees the local sights.”
Hays said local societies help residents understand their communities’ place in the larger events of history, and knowing what roles they played or how they were affected can foster civic pride.
“Everyone thinks nothing ever happened in their backyard, but it did — everything that’s happened on a national level, on a world level, was played out on a local level,” she said. “Once that dawns on people, it creates a real sense of local pride.”