Category Archive: News Wire Services
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Banking executive makes impact through charitable work
By Thomas Olson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 16, 2007When Pittsburgh banker/lawyer James “Jay” Ferguson III was a teenager, his parents set up a family foundation that gave to local health and education causes.
Now, he and wife Ranny are following in his late parents’ footsteps, forming their own foundation so their three children can learn similar lessons about life, community and the spirit of giving.
“It provides a venue for the family to get together, to be selfish about it,” Jay Ferguson says with a grin.
“But really, it’s to inspire the kids — as it did me when I was young — to research where the foundation income should go and to participate in the communities they live in,” Ferguson says during a recent interview in Gulf Tower, Downtown. There, he is Pittsburgh president of Fifth Third Bank — which, in the three years since entering this market, has made its presence felt, too.
The Fergusons’ own footsteps are something to follow. Jay and Ranny, both Pittsburgh-area natives, are a dashing couple — both in appearance and in meeting their busy schedules. The pair are practically ubiquitous in Pittsburgh’s social and philanthropic circles, and their influence is felt widely, say friends and leaders of various organizations.
“Jay and Ranny practice what they preach and help just about anybody that needs it,” says Carol Mitchell, president of the Verland Foundation, Sewickley. Jay served a decade on the board of the Sewickley group, which serves the severely mentally retarded. “A lot of people say they’ll do things, but Jay does them.”
“Charity work comes natural to Jay. He doesn’t do all those rubber-chicken dinners because it’s good for business,” says veteran banker A. William “Bill” Schenck III, who has known Ferguson for 45 years, including their many years at PNC Bank. “He does it because it’s what he thinks he’s supposed to do in life: be part of the community.”
Variety of causes
The Fergusons divide their time and effort between board service at organizations devoted to children’s health, education and welfare, as well as public parks and the visual arts.
They also are regulars at benefits and fundraisers for groups such as the Arthritis Foundation, Gilda’s (cancer-care) Club Western Pennsylvania, the American Heart Association and the Ladies Hospital Aid Society. For instance, the couple gave more than $2,500 in 2006 to the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh/Lemieux Family Center, one of their favorite causes.
“Four years ago, we needed to expand because we were out of space in Oakland, and Ranny chaired the committee,” says William Wycoff, a Downtown attorney and former Children’s Home board president.
Result: In March, the organization moved into a $20 million, 63,000-square-foot facility in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood. It contains 28 beds to care for children and infants with acute and special needs, plus day care for 60 kids and adoption services.
Three months later, Ranny Ferguson succeeded Wycoff as board president.
“Ranny really does get into it wholeheartedly,” Wycoff says of her decades-long Children’s Home involvement. “She’s always there when you need her.”
The compulsion to serve Pittsburgh communities “started with our parents, who were role models,” says Jay, 64.
Who would not be inspired by a surgeon father and pediatrician mother who each provided free clinics, as Ranny’s parents did? Or influenced by a Harvard Law-grad father and Chatham University-prof mother, as Jay’s parents were?
Ranny’s late father had been an obstetrician and gynecological surgeon whose practice included treatment of female inmates at a work house in Fox Chapel. Her mother served as a pediatrician at the Children’s Home when Ranny was a girl.
“I used to go and rock the babies there when I was about 14,” says Ranny, 60. She also remembers her mother conducting free clinics in Homewood, including escorted trips to the distressed neighborhood during the 1969 race riots.
“If we don’t give youth across all racial and economic lines value and a sense of purpose, it’s going to be devastating not only to Pittsburgh, but our entire country,” Ranny says.
Jay, a career trust attorney and wealth-management executive, has provided financial advice and fundraising expertise to two groups dedicated to blacks: the Neighborhood Academy, a charter school in East Liberty; and NEED, or Negro Educational Emergency Drive, Downtown, where he chairs the fundraising committee.
“There are threads that move you in one direction or another,” Jay says. For instance, a severely retarded trust client of his while at PNC Financial Services Group moved him to associate with Verland.
Deep local roots
Born and raised on 14 acres in Churchill, Jay gained a thirst for knowledge from his estimable parents and, perhaps, from further down the family line. His great-grandfather, Robert Gracey Ferguson, served from 1884 to 1906 as one of the first presidents of Westminster College, the liberal arts school in New Wilmington, Lawrence County.
Jay’s late mother was a Yale University graduate who taught speech and drama for about 20 years at Chatham University in Shadyside. His late father was a graduate of Westminster and then Harvard Law School before going on to become a partner of Tucker Arensberg & Ferguson.
Jay followed his father’s path into law, graduating from Dickinson School of Law, in Carlisle, in 1969. He then joined his father’s Downtown law firm, concentrating in trusts and estates. With most of his trust work being for PNC, Jay wound up joining the bank full-time.
He remained at the bank for almost 30 years, eventually rising to managing executive of PNC Advisors, the corporation’s wealth-management business. But he left PNC abruptly in late 2003 “because PNC had moved to more of a consultant orientation,” he says. “They looked more to outside consultants than employees for their strategies and business models.”
“He came home one day and said, ‘I’m going to walk, and there’s no umbrella,’ ” Ranny recalls. “I just said, ‘Absolutely,’ even though there was nothing out there at that point. Jay and I are a team.”
Meantime, Jay also had been chairing PNC’s charitable endowment. “So, I learned lots about different organizations,” he says.
Jay often takes philanthropic direction from colleagues. For instance, the late Mabon Childs, former vice chairman of the regional brokerage firm Parker/Hunter (now Janney Montgomery Scott), steered Ferguson to the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. Childs headed the investment committee; now, Ferguson does.
“Jay has done a superb job managing the endowment and investments of the school,” says board member and former Mellon executive Sandra McLaughlin of the $100 million-plus fund. “The school does not come up wanting, that’s for sure.”
As the head of Fifth Third’s Western Pennsylvania market, Jay also determines where the bank’s charitable donations go. This year, the bank has contributed more than $150,000 to at least 20 local organizations “where we can have an impact,” he says.
The Cincinnati-based bank got its peculiar name from the 1908 merger of Third National and Fifth National banks. (Minding the temperance movement of the day, the founders deliberately avoided calling the bank “Third Fifth,” Ferguson says.)
Local organizations sharing Fifth Third’s largesse include Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, Women’s Shelter of Pittsburgh, Boy Scouts of America, Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, City Theatre and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
The Parks Conservancy is a favorite nonprofit of Ranny, who has chaired the annual hat luncheon to raise money for the preservationist group for the past five years.
“We take for granted our green space in Pittsburgh,” she says. “The parks are for everyone, open to everyone and are free.”
She is particularly drawn to the Carnegie Museum, whose women’s committee she has chaired since June 2006. Ranny says she is “enthralled” by museum programs such as the recent holiday party for special-needs children.
“That’s what Andrew Carnegie originally envisioned, a place where all doors are open,” she says.
Faith and family
Part of what moves Jay to give back is his religious faith. He and Ranny attend services at Calvary Episcopal Church in East Liberty. “I’m not a ‘wear-it-on-my-sleeve’ type. But it’s part of your responsibility to give back to the community.”
The Fergusons began as a mixed couple — she, a Catholic, and he, a Presbyterian. “So, we met in the middle, and became Episcopalian,” Jay says with a laugh. They met on a blind date in Sewickley and got married about three years later, in June 1968, two weeks after Ranny graduated from Manhattanville College, Purchase, N.Y.
She returned, with Jay, to Pittsburgh and later taught advanced math to girls at Ellis School in Shadyside and calculus to students at Shady Side Academy and engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh.
The couple have three children, all in their 30s, plus three grandchildren.
• Daughter Melissa, 36, an investment banker in Chicago, works for Kraft in mergers and acquisitions. (She won’t even tell her father what she’s working on, he says.)
• Son Rob, 34, works in Pittsburgh as a principal at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, a global firm based in Chicago, while his wife is an anaesthesiologist with UPMC.
• Son Bill, 30, works near Los Angeles as manager of youth national team administration for the U.S. Soccer Federation, developing youngsters age 13 to 19 for World Cup competition.
Soccer has legs in the Ferguson family. Jay was a soccer player in college and coached his two sons, he says. Jay also has season tickets to Steelers, Pirates and Penguins games.
He’s also a confessed car nut, having raced cars during his days at Duke. These days, he drives a Toyota Land Cruiser for commuting and a Porsche 923 GTS for fun.
In addition, he hopes to restore a 1958 Rolls Royce he inherited.
“One of the things I’ve toyed with doing in retirement is racing vintage cars,” he says, adding, with a grin, “I like cars that go fast.”
Thomas Olson can be reached at tolson@tribweb.com or 412-320-7854.
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Banks reborn as nightclubs, restaurants and a spa
By The Tribune-Review
Thursday, December 13, 2007Back in the day, banks were built with a grandeur and strength in both material and design.
These magnificent shrines to commerce were built with tall granite columns, marble counters and brass cashier cages. The structures spoke of trust, reliability and permanence.
Fast-forward to the next century, and enter the world of credit cards, ATM machines and online banking.
The permanence of those banks as imposing buildings remains, but many have been renovated into new establishments, such as clubs, coffeehouses, condos, restaurants — and even a spa.
Here are a handful found throughout the area — and one with plans for the future.
CARSON CITY SALOON, SOUTH SIDE
You want a nightclub, you want a big, sturdy, solid building. Something that the bass from a Timbaland or Kanye West track isn’t going to shake apart. So why not a bank?
Carson City Saloon inhabits a space built for the German National Depository in 1896. It also was a Mellon Bank, then a Citizens Bank. Typical for its time, the massively imposing, thick-walled neoclassical building conveys fortress-like safety and stability. It’s an attractive structure, if not particularly festive or fun.
But inside, it has been totally transformed into a spacious, high-ceilinged cavern of sports, television and beer. One thing that remains from its bank beginnings is the giant, steel walk-in vault in the far back wall. Once, it probably served to reassure customers and intimidate potential robbers. Now, it’s just another decoration on the wall between the kitchen and the digital jukebox.
Carson City Saloon, 1401 E. Carson St., South Side. Hours: 11:45 a.m.-1:45 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, noon-midnight Sundays. Details: 412-481-3203.
PERK COFFEE GALLERY, WEST END
The vault of a West End bank is now a treasure house of coffee, wraps, soups, sandwiches and an ever-changing selection of home-cooked entrees. New to the scene as of Nov. 17, Perk Coffee Gallery began serving customers in the safe deposit vault where generations of banking clients once stored their valuables.
Toni Herd, a Munhall resident and the owner of Perk Coffee Gallery, was looking for a space to open a coffee shop and art gallery that would become part of the West End’s revitalization. An artist friend told her about this available space.
Constructed in 1927 for the West End Savings and Trust Co., the building had been subdivided into an indoor mini-mall for shops and a National City Bank branch office.
Herd fell in love with the tiny space, especially when she learned she could fill the adjoining vault with tables and chairs for her customers.
She offers homemade dishes such as macaroni and cheese or green beans and smoked turkey alongside the lighter options that include vegan wraps, red beans and greens salads. The $6.25 Saturday lunch special menu features smoked and barbecued ribs or chicken, collard greens or baked beans, a corn muffin and a choice of cole slaw or potato salad.
Right now, most of Herd’s customers are people who work in the neighborhood. But there’s a number of art galleries nearby, and the walls of Perk Coffee Gallery are lined with original artworks created by Herd and other local artists.
“I’m hoping the area will become a place (for artists and their customers) to hang out comfortably,” she says.
Perk Coffee Gallery, 22 Wabash St., West End. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Details: 412-773-1057.
ROCKWELL’S RED LION RESTAURANT, ELIZABETH
The building that houses Rockwell’s Red Lion Restaurant in Elizabeth originally was built for the First National Bank of Elizabeth in 1906. The bank closed its doors permanently seven years later. The building housed a drugstore and a second-hand store and stood vacant until the Rockwell family purchased and renovated it, opening the restaurant May 14, 1980.
Framed old photos on the restaurant walls are a reminder of life in Elizabeth as far back as the late 1800s.
The restaurant is run by Orrie Rockwell Jr. and his children, Lynn McHolme, who runs the business office, and Orrie Rockwell III, who is the chef. The menu changes periodically to feature seasonal dishes. Chef Orrie’s specialties include roasted duck with blackberry and black cherry demi-glaze ($21.95), salmon with blueberry glaze ($16.95) and chicken with apricot glaze ($14.95).
The restaurant will hold a Christmas wine tasting and dinner Dec. 22. Cost of the four-course meal is $40.
Rockwell’s Red Lion Restaurant, 201 Second St., Elizabeth. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays. Details: 412-384-3909.
THE VAULT COFFEE & TEA BAR, BRIGHTON HEIGHTS
There are banks, and then there are savings and loans. The former typically is a marble-floored financial institution whose Doric columns and gilded ceilings radiate fiduciary gravitas. The latter is the bank’s folksy cousin, with functional carpeting and color schemes that recall the Brady Bunch rec room.
It makes sense that The Vault Coffee & Tea Bar, a mainstay of the Brighton Heights business district, should take up residence in a former savings and loan. Its homely intimacy serves its quirky sensibility well.
You won’t find a bank vault in The Vault — at least not on the main floor. But you will enjoy spotting vestiges of its former life while you wait for barista Matt Haberman or owner Bradley Richards to make your espresso.
The small lectern where folks used to fill out deposit slips now holds napkins. Beneath a sign that proclaims “Today’s Interest Rates” is a menu that touts stuffed grape leaves, Chicken Feta Mojo, bagels or toast. Another sign invites customers to “angry up” their usual cup of Joe with a shot of espresso.
The original office couches, where anxious customers waited for loan approval, now serve as posterior magnets in the small upstairs balcony. It’s strewn with laptops and back issues of Spin. If the coffee doesn’t wake you up, the loud blue walls will.
Customers Michele Knickerbocker and Michelle Ligon, both nursing students and moms, park themselves by the counter, where bank tellers reportedly served customers from behind bulletproof glass.
“I have two kids, and you can bring them here,” Knickerbocker says. “People don’t act annoyed that they’re around.”
The Vault Coffee & Tea Bar, 3619 California Ave., Brighton Heights. Hours: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Details: 412-734-1935.
THE SEWICKLEY SPA, LIGONIER
Money-related puns abound with satisfied patrons at The Sewickley Spa, who often tell the owner that they got a wealth of a wonderful treatment with rich pleasures. Given that their pampering took place in a former bank vault, there’s no better way to describe it, says Dorothy Andreas Tuel, owner of the Ligonier spa that is housed in a former Mellon Bank building.
“People really get a kick out of it,” she says. “It’s a conversation piece as well as a relaxing treatment.”
Andreas Tuel — who also owns The Sewickley Spa at Sewickley, and The Sewickley Spa at Wisp Resort in Maryland — opened the Ligonier location in 2001. She says she was thrilled to discover that the Mellon Bank building was available, after looking around Ligonier for a new spot.
With plenty of open spaces, the bank building was easy to convert into a spa, she says. The building, with its granite columns, still retains some of its turn-of-the-century bank look, and some banking remnants — like a $20 bill from the 1940s — were found during the renovation. Inside the spa, visitors can get pampered with more than three dozen treatments, mostly skin and body therapy.
The Sewickley Spa, 112 N. Market St., Ligonier. Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Details: 724-238-3878.
PITTSBURGH ENGINEERS BUILDING, DOWNTOWN
The former bank that now houses the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania was built in the heart of Pittsburgh’s financial district, Downtown, at the turn of the last century by famed architect Daniel H. Burnham. He also designed the Flatiron Building in New York City and Pittsburgh’s Union Station, now the Pennsylvanian, among many other buildings.
Members and guests of the Engineers’ Society have the privilege of eating inside the bank vault during daily lunches. But you’ll have to make friends with an engineer; unfortunately, the club dining room is not open to the public.
DISCOVERY & INTERACTIVE SCIENCE CENTER, GREENSBURG
A former Mellon Bank building in downtown Greensburg could become an interactive, hands-on science center if Douglas Lingsch and his wife, Mari-Pat, can make it happen.
The Bedford couple hope to open the Discovery & Interactive Science Center — run as a nonprofit, similar to the Carnegie Science Center — in the fall of 2008 or 2009.
The granite-block structure was built in 1928 for the Barclay-Westmoreland Trust Co. and has been vacant since Citizens Bank closed its branch in March 2005. In September, the Lingsches bought the vacant building for $258,000. Douglas Lingsch says it remains in good condition, and he anticipates spending about $1 million to convert it.
The lobby of the former bank would be completely renovated, and a mezzanine floor would be added to create more exhibit space. The bank’s two vaults — whose 800- to 1,000-pound doors have glass panels exposing the gears — would be part of the attraction.
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Proposal would dust off Wilkinsburg train station
By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 13, 2007There’s a proposal to bring new life to the Wilkinsburg train station, which has been vacant since the 1970s.
The board of the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County last month approved a request from the county’s Department of Economic Development to apply for a $15,000 grant from the state Historical & Museum Commission.
“The funds will be used to hire a professional to evaluate what renovations are needed, and their costs, to restore the station,” said Cassandra Collinge, assistant manager of the department’s housing division.
That person also will be asked to do an environmental survey of the property and provide suggestions for re-use of the station, she said.
The station is located at Hay Street and Ross Avenue, on a site behind the CVS Pharmacy on Penn Avenue.
This is not the first attempt to renovate the station.
In 2004, a team of students from Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management received a $10,000 grant from an anonymous contributor to conduct research regarding the station, including obtaining public suggestions for its use.
The students hoped to discover how the station could be used in a way that would benefit the community and boost the economy. Suggestions included a jazz museum, restaurant and cafe.
In 2005, architect Sylvester Damianos asked permission from the Wilkinsburg Municipal Authority/Wilkinsburg Borough Industrial and Commercial Development Authority to purchase the station.
Damianos said he could use the property for his offices, a community gallery and for a woodworking shop in the basement.
“We were definitely interested in doing the project, but found there were too many legal problems, because of a variety of ownerships, and we decided to drop out,” he said.
However, several groups continued to express interest in having the station preserved and reused.
Among them are Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
“We have been interested in the station for 30 years, and am happy the county has allocated funds for an architectural/engineering study to determine its current condition and how to stabilize the building,” said Arthur Ziegler, the foundation’s executive director.
“Once that is achieved, perhaps we can market the building.”
The Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh has listed the station as an historic site and offered assistance to any developer interested in restoring it.
Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com or 412-320-7843.
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Pitt to spend $20M renovating University Club
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
By Bill Schackner,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe University of Pittsburgh will spend $20.2 million to convert the historic University Club building in Oakland into a faculty club and housing for families traveling to Pittsburgh for life-saving hospital treatment.
The Pitt trustees’ property and facilities committee, meeting yesterday, outlined planned uses for the eight-story building at 123 University Place that Pitt acquired in 2005.
The work is among nine renovation and construction projects worth about $67 million approved yesterday.
Floors one through four will become a 4,000-square-foot faculty club, 4,000-square-foot fitness center, 18,000-square-foot conference center and banquet facility, 4,000-square-foot kitchen facility, coffee shop and 8,000 square feet of offices, Pitt said in a statement.
The upper floors will be readied for lease to Family House Inc., a nonprofit group offering stays for families of hospital patients being treated for life-threatening conditions.
Also authorized by the committee yesterday:
• $2.3 million construction of a Wall Street-type financial analysis laboratory in the Katz graduate business school’s Mervis Hall.
• A $16.8 million expansion of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative in the Swanson School of Engineering.
• A $3.25 million conversion of the former Old Engineering Hall second-floor library into modern laboratories for nanoscience research.
• A $5.5 million renovation of Chevron Hall’s fourth floor for uses including teaching labs.
• $4.4 million in improvements to the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure for the first floor of Langley Hall.
• $2.3 million in mechanical systems upgrades to the Victoria Building, which houses the nursing school.
• $9.8 million for energy-efficient boilers and related equipment to boost capacity at the Carrillo Street steam plant.
• $2.3 million in electrical and mechanical system upgrades for the university’s computer center at the Regional Industrial Development Corp. park in Blawnox.
Bill Schackner can be reached at bschackner@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1977.
First published on December 12, 2007 at 12:00 am -
A history of Kennywood
By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, December 12, 20071815: Charles Kenny purchases land that becomes Kennywood to mine coal.
1860s: Some of the Kenny family’s land, known as “Kenny’s Grove,” becomes a popular picnic area.
1898: The Monongahela Street Railway Co. leases Kenny’s Grove in order to open a trolley park to encourage people to use the company’s trolley cars. Railway shareholder Andrew Mellon names the park Kennywood in honor of the Kenny family and picnic area.
1902: Kennywood builds its first roller coaster, the Figure Eight Toboggan.
1906: Andrew McSwigan, Frederick Henninger and A.F. Megahan form the Pittsburg Kennywood Park Co. and lease Kennywood from Pittsburgh Street Railway Co., which acquired the Monongahela Street Railway Co. Descendants of McSwigan and Henninger remain involved with the park.
1921: Kennywood’s oldest running roller coaster, the Jack Rabbit, is built. Additional coasters include the Pippin (1924) and the Racer (1927). A swimming pool opens in 1925.
1926: The Carousel is constructed.
1930-35: Kennywood survives the Great Depression by bringing in local and national “swing” bands and sponsoring school picnics.
1936: Kennywood constructs Noah’s Ark, the same year as Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day flood.
1950s-70s: With competition from Disney Land and other so-called theme parks, Kennywood grows and adapts, adding such rides as the Rotor, the first ride imported from Europe, the Turnpike and the Thunderbolt, redesigned from the Pippin.
1981: Kennywood for the first time surpasses the 1 million visitors mark.
1985: The park adds the Raging Rapids.
1987: Kennywood is designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior, one of two amusements parks nationwide included in the National Register of Historic Places.
1991: Kennywood adds the Steel Phantom, with a top speed of 80 miles per hour, then the world’s fastest coaster.
1995: The park’s largest expansion, Lost Kennywood, based on Oakland’s Luna amusement park, is built.
1999: The indoor roller coaster, the Exterminator, is added.
2000-01: The Steel Phantom is demolished to make room for the Phantom’s Revenge.
2005: Kennywood’s owners reveal they’ve acquired about 50 acres, increasing the park’s size to about 140 acres. A $60 million expansion plan, contingent on taxes and completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, would include a hotel and indoor water park, to be built across Kennywood Boulevard on the site of a former Kmart.
2007: Kennywood Entertainment announces agreement to sell its amusement park holdings, including Idlewild & SoakZone in Ligonier and Sandcastle Waterpark in West Homestead, to Parques Reunidos of Madrid.
Source: Tribune-Review research
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Kennywood sale shouldn’t change much
By Kim Leonard
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 12, 2007A Spanish company’s purchase of local icon Kennywood shouldn’t diminish its low-key charm and may mean more investment in the century-old amusement park in West Mifflin and its sister parks, industry experts say.
Parques Reunidos of Madrid in March plans to acquire Kennywood, Idlewild & SoakZone, Sandcastle Waterpark and other properties belonging to Kennywood Entertainment of Pittsburgh. Officials announced the deal Tuesday but didn’t disclose a price.
“There is quite a bit of backing there,” Kennywood spokeswoman Mary Lou Rosemeyer said of Parques Reunidos. But, she said, “we don’t expect them to come right in and build a new roller coaster. We are strong the way we are.”
Parques Reunidos operates 61 amusement, animal and water parks including the Madrid Zoo, with annual revenue exceeding $570 million and visitors topping 22 million.
“We have tremendous respect for the work of the Kennywood management team and are delighted to acquire such a quality organization. … We are anxious to continue the gold standard of entertainment they have established,” CEO Richard Golding said in a statement. Company officials could not be reached for further comment.
The Kennywood properties would be the company’s second U.S. acquisition, Rosemeyer said.
Parques Reunidos bought Palace Entertainment of Newport Beach, Calif., the nation’s largest water parks and family recreation center operator, for $330 million in October and took ownership of 33 sites, including the Wet ‘N Wild park in Greensboro.
Parques Reunidos has grown quickly since its acquisition in January by the London-based Candover private equity investment fund for $1.22 billion. Kennywood said the Spanish company approached its owners with an offer as part of a plan to expand its ownership of family entertainment venues worldwide.
Kennywood Entertainment has been a family business since F.W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan bought the flagship West Mifflin park, once a picnic area accessible by trolley, from Monongahela Railway Co. in 1906.
Rosemeyer said the timing was right for a sale. The two controlling families are in their fourth and fifth generations of ownership, with more than 100 shareholders ages 8 months to 80-plus.
Harry Henninger, Kennywood’s chairman, said the experience visitors expect will continue.
“Nothing will seem different, even to the folks working at the parks,” he said. “Existing management and staff will remain in place.” The parks have 235 full-time employees, although Kennywood’s work force swells to 1,500 during the operating season.
“Kennywood is one of the most respected independent operators in the industry,” said Dennis Spiegel, president of consulting firm International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati.
The amusement park industry has consolidated in the past five years, he said, and Kennywood’s reputation made it attractive to Parques Reunidos.
One of the biggest deals last year was Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair LP’s $1.24 billion acquisition of five parks from Paramount Parks. Cedar Fair, operator of Cedar Point park in Sandusky, bought Kings Island near Cincinnati; Kings Dominion near Richmond, Va.; Carowinds, near Charlotte; Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.
Rosemeyer said the Kennywood parks experienced their best summer this year; the three Pennsylvania parks drew more than 2 million visitors.
Brett Petit, vice president of marketing for Palace Entertainment, said the Kennywood deal might have something to do with the falling U.S. dollar against the stronger euro.
“It is a great time to buy,” he said, and Palace has been pleased with its acquisition by Parques Reunidos because the company understands the theme park business. “They understand weather issues and guest issues. It would be different if a big bank had bought us.”
Parques Reunidos has united smaller parks, allowing them to exchange ideas and buy more efficiently. It plans to open rides at several Palace sites next year, Petit said.
Peter Alexander, a former Disney theme park planner who owns Totally Fun Co. of Tampa, Fla., said American park operators have bought properties overseas for years, and the reverse is happening.
The announcement took local officials and some of Kennywood’s biggest fans by surprise.
The sale of any family-owned business is sad, West Mifflin Mayor John Andzelik said. “You wonder what foreign investors are going to come in and do.”
Bill Linkenheimer of Ross, past national president of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, which held a convention at Kennywood, said he thought the park’s sale eventually would happen.
“I’ve heard about the Spanish company,” he said, “and from what I understand, they don’t have a standard operating theme. They buy parks and allow them to run somewhat autonomously. Kennywood’s success is the result of being unique.”
The sale announcement occurred as Kennywood’s corporate officials and West Mifflin leaders were meeting with legislators in Harrisburg about a dispute over the borough’s amusement tax.
Kennywood, arguing the tax is unfair and targets the park, hasn’t paid it in about 18 months and owes about $1.5 million, Andzelik said.
Republican state Sen. Robert Regola of Hempfield has introduced a bill to repeal the tax. The Senate Finance Committee is reviewing the bill.
Staff writers Ron DaParma, Brad Bumsted and Rick Stouffer contributed to this report.
Kim Leonard can be reached at kleonard@tribweb.com or 412-380-5606.
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Salvation Army plans please North Side groups
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 12, 2007Neighborhood groups welcomed the Salvation Army’s decision to build a worship and service center in the North Side and not remodel a Greek Orthodox church.
“We are pleased that the Salvation Army has decided to reinvest in the North Side community and continue to provide, and even expand, services at their current location,” said Paul Carson, a Mexican War Streets resident who is president of the North Side Neighborhood Coalition.
The Salvation Army’s plans to convert Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church into a worship and social service center had concerned neighbors who thought a homeless program would be located close to homes, schools and playgrounds.
“We were getting pressure from the community, but the decision was more dollars and cents,” said Maj. Robert J. Reel, divisional commander. The Salvation Army will raze two buildings it owns on West North Avenue near the closed Garden Theatre and build a center there.
The church would have required extensive renovations, he said.
“It makes more sense to build … without making adjustments and trying to retrofit,” Reel said.
Concerns remain that the North Side is being deluged with social service programs, but community leaders said the neighborhood is poised for an economic infusion.
The Salvation Army project and plans to renovate the Garden Theatre will help “build up the area,” said Robin Rosemary Miller, president of the North Side/North Shore Chamber of Commerce.
“There is a lot of money to be invested in this neighborhood,” she said.
Holy Trinity’s 300-family congregation plans to build a home in McCandless.
Reel said the Salvation Army’s approximately $4 million project will begin sometime next year.
Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.
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Canonsburg landmark gets new life
By Lori Humphreys
The Almanac
Serving the South Hills of Pittsburgh
December 5, 2007If Historical and Architectural House Preservation had a mascot it would be turning cartwheels at the news that Canonsburg’s John Roberts House will be saved from demolition.
Thanks to a band of intrepid Canonsburg residents and business owners, the architecturally and historically important 17th and 18th century stone and brick Georgian style home, nominated to the National Register, will be restored and gain a new identity as an arts education center. It will be owned and managed by the recently formed not for profit corporation the Washington County Cultural Trust (WCCT).The Roberts House rescue began in December 2006, when Canonsburg resident and WCCT trustee Andrew J. Tarnik purchased the property. Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation bought the property from Tarnik and will hold it for one year while the WCCT raises money to restore the home. Landmarks will retain an easement on the home’s exterior which will preserve its architectural integrity for future generations.
President of the WCCT Board of Trustees Ellen Sims is described by fellow trustee and Secretary – Treasurer Joe Gowern as the ‘glue that holds us together’. She shared the organization’s vision for the house and property.
“The restored Roberts House, a Canonsburg and regional landmark, will be an art center bringing nationally and internationally recognized artists to Canonsburg to teach and exhibit. We organized as the Washington County Cultural Trust so that in future we can help preserve other Washington County landmarks for use by the arts,” she said.
Canonsburg artist James Sulkowski and WCCT trustee looks ahead to the day when the home will attract artists, students and visitors. He helped to develop a business plan for a Center for the Arts.
Mayor Anthony L. Colaizzo and WCCT trustee is excited about the opportunity a restored Roberts House offers.
“This is another milestone making our community attractive for our residents and visitors,” he said.
Other officers and members of the board of trustees are: Vice President Joseph P. Salandra; Canonsburg councilwoman Jean Popp; Joseph Solobay, Marge Dellorso, James P. Liekar, Esq., The Honorable Katherine Emery, Canon – McMillan School District Superintendent Nick Bayat, and Mike Melone.
There is a fortuitous symmetry between the home’s proposed future and past. Though named for John Roberts who owned it from 1808 – 1815 and had a store and post – office there, it is more closely aligned with Jefferson College. It was a residence for Jefferson College presidents, vice -presidents and faculty for over 30 years. The ties to Jefferson College extended to the early 20th century. According to local historian James T. Herron, Jr., Bettie and Natalie Snyder, the daughters of Henry Snyder, Jefferson College professor, resided here.
The home continued as a place for learning. Catherine Munnell Croker, organist at the First Presbyterian Church lived and taught piano lessons there.
The Roberts House is intertwined with Canonsburg’s development, from John Canon, the town’s first developer and namesake to today’s plans for its future. Canon first sold the land in 1796 to Rev. John McMillan, educator and pastor of Chartiers Hill Presbyterian Church. Their names continue into the present combined as the Canon – McMillan School District.
As important as the John Roberts House is historically it is also one of the most significant architectural landmarks in the region. Renowned Pittsburgh architect Charles Morse Stotz records the house in The Architectural Heritage of Early Western Pennsylvania.. His book first published in 1936 and republished in 1966 is the bible of regional homes and buildings of architectural interest built before1860. The House is also featured in the 1975 Washington County History and Landmarks Foundation publication Preserving Our Past.
In photo and drawings Stotz detailed the homes important features like the classic doorway with its half circle fan light, that has not changed materially since the 1936 photo. He also drew interior woodwork including doors, banisters, balustrades and fireplaces. According to Simms the woodwork is intact. However, the living room and dining room fireplaces are missing.
“If anyone knows where they are and would like to donate them we’d love to have them,” she said.
The WCCT is planning its campaign to raise money to repay Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation and fund the restoration. The group has received a $5,000 seed grant from Pennsylvania through the offices of State Senator Barry Stout and State Representative Tim Solobay.
The WCCT application for 501 C3 tax exempt status is pending. The goal is to have each person in the community take part in not only preserving the last symbol of Canonburg’s great educational and cultural heritage but making the Roberts House the newest symbol of the town’s vibrant educational and cultural present. Checks can be made to WCCT/Roberts House, P.O. Box 45, Canonsburg, PA 15317.
Copyright Observer Publishing Co.