Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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State Capitol is national landmark
By The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Tuesday, December 5, 2006HARRISBURG – The ornate state Capitol building earns oohs and ahhs every day from visitors impressed by its marble, gold leaf and intricate decoration.
The building’s special place in American history recently earned it another honor, as the U.S. Interior Department has granted it National Historic Landmark status.In announcing the action Monday, the Capitol Preservation Committee said it learned of the decision last month, and expects to install a commemorative bronze plaque in the spring.
Landmark status is currently bestowed on more than 2,300 of the 76,000 entries on the National Register of Historic Places. Among the landmarks are Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the site of the Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii, the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Atlanta birthplace.
The Capitol was designed by Joseph M. Huston, with a dome patterned on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and a grand staircase reminiscent of the Paris Opera.
President Theodore Roosevelt attended its dedication on Oct. 4, 1906.
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Historic Vandergrift looks to future
By Marjorie Wertz
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 19, 2006In 1901, six years after the establishment of Vandergrift, Westmoreland County, Steel Workers Magazine called the town a “working man’s paradise.”
Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the architect of New York’s Central Park and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Vandergrift was a planned community founded by George G. McMurtry, president of the Apollo Iron and Steel Co., Apollo. It was named after Captain J.J. Vandergrift, a director of the steel mill.
“McMurtry was one of the first industrialists who gave respect to the working man,” said Ken Blose, a member of the Victorian Vandergrift Museum and Historical Society. “He believed that educated, churchgoing men who owned their own homes in their own community would make the best workers. These were radical thoughts at that time.”
McMurtry needed to expand his galvanized steel mill, so he bought a 650-acre farm site several miles downstream on the Kiskiminetas River. Olmstead designed the town so that the streets followed the natural slope of the hills and the curve of the river. The mill was constructed; streets were graded; utilities were installed; trees were planted; and street lights were erected.
“There were 14 main streets in the original design and only one place where two streets crossed,” Blose said. “There are no real corners. Every corner is a sweeping curve.”
Once the town was laid out, lots were sold only to men who worked in the mill. McMurtry established a bank so mill workers could buy homes at rates they could afford.
“For a man working in a mill in 1895, the opportunity to purchase his own home was practically nil,” Blose said.
McMurtry continued his philanthropic actions through the purchase of pipe organs for all the town’s churches. He also donated land for schools and the fire department and bought the fire department’s first equipment. Blose said McMurtry also sold land for $1 to the town for a cemetery.
“And what land that was undeveloped, he allowed the townspeople to use for recreational purposes,” Blose said.
At the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Vandergrift won two gold medals for best town design, and, in 1907, the Vandergrift steel mill was the largest rolling mill in the world, producing high-quality silicon steel.
“The steel for the centerpiece of the 1964 New York World’s Fair; the Unisphere, the largest metal sculpture in the world, was finished and polished in Vandergrift. Some of the steel for the St. Louis Arch was produced in Vandergrift, and the hinges for the gates and other parts of the Panama Canal were produced in the Vandergrift Foundry,” Blose said.
McMurtry also was the primary contributor to the construction of the town’s municipal building, which housed the jail, administration offices and a 500-seat theater. That building, the Casino Theatre, is undergoing renovations by a group of volunteers, Casino Theatre Restoration and Management.
“The theatre was being used by the borough for storage,” said Mary Lee Kessler, treasurer of the organization. “The theatre seats, stage curtain and all the decorative items within the theatre had been removed. There were rumors that the theatre was going to be torn down. We couldn’t let that happen.”
Built in 1900 in the Greek revival style, the theatre was a popular venue on the vaudeville circuit. President William H. Taft, boxing champ Bob Fitzsimmons, composer Hoagy Carmichael, Tex Ritter and the Three Stooges visited the Casino.
The Casino was remodeled in 1927 as the area’s largest movie theater, and in the ’50s, it was converted to show wide-screen movies. It closed in 1981.
“The east wing of the building still houses the library, and the west wing has the offices of the borough secretary, the jail and police station,” Kessler said. “The theatre was in great disrepair, but the borough was very open to a responsible group attempting to revive it, so they leased it to us for $1 a year with the understanding that we would apply for grants to renovate it.”
Kessler has been successful in obtaining grants for renovation projects. The organization was able to locate 475 seats for $5,000 and install electrical wiring, lighting and sound. A group of volunteers, affectionately called the Tuesday Night Work Crew, arrive at the theatre Tuesday evenings and “do what needs to be done,” Kessler said.
“We replaced the four wooden ionic columns in the front of the theatre, excavated in the basement, and now there’s a very pretty ladies lounge there. We also reopened the mezzanine level and renovated the front lawn,” she said.
The discovery of two old movie window cards netted the organization about $37,000, which was used to repair the theatre’s roof. A group of Eagle Scouts was cleaning out a portion of the theatre’s upper floor when it located an old desk with an ink blotter. Under the blotter, the group found a perfectly preserved window card for the 1927 science fiction movie “Metropolis,” directed by Fritz Lang.
“One of the volunteers contacted a fellow from Greensburg who was extremely excited because memorabilia from that move is very collectible,” Kessler said. “That window card was auctioned off by Sotheby’s, and we netted $24,000.”
A second window card for the movie that had a small bend in one corner was auctioned several years later and sold for about $13,000.
The Casino Theatre officially reopened its doors in August 1995. Three years ago, Mickey Rooney performed there, and in April, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson gave one of his last performances before dying Aug. 23.
“Every year we do a magic show for children at the end of October, and during the first weekend of December, we self-produce ‘Hometown Christmas.’ This year, it will be a musical revue,” Kessler said.
On Nov. 25, 14 bands will put on a benefit concert at the Casino to help the organization pay the heating bill.
“This is a fun place to be. The people who volunteer here are very enthusiastic,” Kessler added.
The Vandergrift Improvement Program — VIP — is another nonprofit organization comprising local residents, businesses, municipal and state government officials working to protect, preserve and restore the community through the National Trust for Historical Preservations’ Main Street approach.
“We had 15 vacant storefronts out of 100 stores in our town. We didn’t want the town to rot away,” said Wayne Teeple, vice president of the 100-member VIP.
The premise of the town’s Main Street approach is to encourage economic revitalization through a four-pronged system — design, economic restructuring, promotion and organization — to address all of the commercial district’s needs.
The town, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is in the first year of the Main Street program.
“We had to raise $94,000 to obtain funding for a Department of Community and Economic Development Main Street grant,” Teeple said. “Within a three-month period, the residents and Vandergrift government pledged that amount over a five-year period.”
The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, a nonprofit historic preservation group, was hired to manage the Main Street program, said Eugene Matta, director of the foundation’s real estate and special-development programs.
Shaun Yurcaba, of History and Landmarks, is Vandergrift’s Main Street coordinator. She is helping VIP coordinate its efforts.
“The four committees working in design, economic restructuring, promotion and organization fulfill the requirements of the Main Street program,” Yurcaba said.
The design committee is developing guidelines for the protection of historical buildings during changes or renovations. Those on the economic restructuring committee are determining how many businesses are downtown and what types of businesses are in place in order to gauge what improvements are needed.
“The organization committee works on establishing relationships with other community organizations such as the Casino Theatre renovation group and the historical society,” Yurcaba added.
Trying to bring people into town is the work of the promotion committee, which sponsors events such as a summer car cruise and a 2007 pet calendar contest, in which people cast ballots for their favorite pet photos at Vandergrift businesses.
“Once we go into year two of the Main Street project, we become eligible for an $80,000 grant — $30,000 of it will be available to downtown building owners in the form of grants,” Teeple said. “They can apply for a $5,000 matching grant for renovating the facades of their buildings. We already have five building owners interested in this.”
Other groups are working toward Vandergrift’s revitalization, as well.
“Sustainable Pittsburgh is working with us so that Vandergrift becomes a green sustainable development,” Matta said. “And the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative through the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering is also working on quite a project in Vandergrift.”
Sustainable Pittsburgh served as the “matchmaker” between the initiative and Vandergrift, said Eric Beckman, co-director of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative.
“The goal of MSI is to create the next generation of technology that is cost-effective and sustainable,” Beckman said. “We brought in a team of undergraduate engineering students into Vandergrift and asked them if they could bring energy conservation to the Casino Theatre. The question became ‘How do you lower energy bills without destroying the historic value of the community?’ ”
The shallow, yet swift-flowing Kiski River, which surrounds Vandergrift on three sides, might be able answer, Beckman said. The group submitted a proposal to the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance for a sustainable creative energy grant.
“We went in on this proposal with Sustainable Pittsburgh. Whatever we come up with in Vandergrift, we could use in other parts of the state,” Beckman said. “Eventually, we want to create something that will generate electricity and try it out in Vandergrift. The town will be our test bed.”
All the partnerships have helped VIP pick up steam on revitalization projects.
“Other towns are calling us for information. Everyone has a passion for this, and it’s something that’s really taking off,” Teeple said.
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- Carino’s, which closed several years ago, was housed in one of Vandergrift’s signature buildings. — Bob Fritz/For the Tribune-Review
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- John Pomfret repainted a turn-of-the-century tin ceiling in his store, Pomfret’s Paint and Variety. — Bob Fritz/For the Tribune-Review
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- The Casino Theatre was remodeled in 1927 and again in the ’50s before closing in 1981. It reopened in August 1995 after undergoing extensive work. The building houses a library, municipal offices and a police station. — Bob Fritz/For the Tribune-Review
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- Mary Lee Kessler is treasurer of Casino Theatre Restoration and Management, a group of volunteers renovating the theater. — Steven Dietz/For the Tribune-Review
Marjorie Wertz can be reached at .
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Historic Vandergrift looks to future
By Marjorie Wertz
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 19, 2006In 1901, six years after the establishment of Vandergrift, Westmoreland County, Steel Workers Magazine called the town a “working man’s paradise.”
Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the architect of New York’s Central Park and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Vandergrift was a planned community founded by George G. McMurtry, president of the Apollo Iron and Steel Co., Apollo. It was named after Captain J.J. Vandergrift, a director of the steel mill.“McMurtry was one of the first industrialists who gave respect to the working man,” said Ken Blose, a member of the Victorian Vandergrift Museum and Historical Society. “He believed that educated, churchgoing men who owned their own homes in their own community would make the best workers. These were radical thoughts at that time.”
McMurtry needed to expand his galvanized steel mill, so he bought a 650-acre farm site several miles downstream on the Kiskiminetas River. Olmstead designed the town so that the streets followed the natural slope of the hills and the curve of the river. The mill was constructed; streets were graded; utilities were installed; trees were planted; and street lights were erected.
“There were 14 main streets in the original design and only one place where two streets crossed,” Blose said. “There are no real corners. Every corner is a sweeping curve.”
Once the town was laid out, lots were sold only to men who worked in the mill. McMurtry established a bank so mill workers could buy homes at rates they could afford.
“For a man working in a mill in 1895, the opportunity to purchase his own home was practically nil,” Blose said.
McMurtry continued his philanthropic actions through the purchase of pipe organs for all the town’s churches. He also donated land for schools and the fire department and bought the fire department’s first equipment. Blose said McMurtry also sold land for $1 to the town for a cemetery.
“And what land that was undeveloped, he allowed the townspeople to use for recreational purposes,” Blose said.
At the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Vandergrift won two gold medals for best town design, and, in 1907, the Vandergrift steel mill was the largest rolling mill in the world, producing high-quality silicon steel.
“The steel for the centerpiece of the 1964 New York World’s Fair; the Unisphere, the largest metal sculpture in the world, was finished and polished in Vandergrift. Some of the steel for the St. Louis Arch was produced in Vandergrift, and the hinges for the gates and other parts of the Panama Canal were produced in the Vandergrift Foundry,” Blose said.
McMurtry also was the primary contributor to the construction of the town’s municipal building, which housed the jail, administration offices and a 500-seat theater. That building, the Casino Theatre, is undergoing renovations by a group of volunteers, Casino Theatre Restoration and Management.
“The theatre was being used by the borough for storage,” said Mary Lee Kessler, treasurer of the organization. “The theatre seats, stage curtain and all the decorative items within the theatre had been removed. There were rumors that the theatre was going to be torn down. We couldn’t let that happen.”
Built in 1900 in the Greek revival style, the theatre was a popular venue on the vaudeville circuit. President William H. Taft, boxing champ Bob Fitzsimmons, composer Hoagy Carmichael, Tex Ritter and the Three Stooges visited the Casino.
The Casino was remodeled in 1927 as the area’s largest movie theater, and in the ’50s, it was converted to show wide-screen movies. It closed in 1981.
“The east wing of the building still houses the library, and the west wing has the offices of the borough secretary, the jail and police station,” Kessler said. “The theatre was in great disrepair, but the borough was very open to a responsible group attempting to revive it, so they leased it to us for $1 a year with the understanding that we would apply for grants to renovate it.”
Kessler has been successful in obtaining grants for renovation projects. The organization was able to locate 475 seats for $5,000 and install electrical wiring, lighting and sound. A group of volunteers, affectionately called the Tuesday Night Work Crew, arrive at the theatre Tuesday evenings and “do what needs to be done,” Kessler said.
“We replaced the four wooden ionic columns in the front of the theatre, excavated in the basement, and now there’s a very pretty ladies lounge there. We also reopened the mezzanine level and renovated the front lawn,” she said.
The discovery of two old movie window cards netted the organization about $37,000, which was used to repair the theatre’s roof. A group of Eagle Scouts was cleaning out a portion of the theatre’s upper floor when it located an old desk with an ink blotter. Under the blotter, the group found a perfectly preserved window card for the 1927 science fiction movie “Metropolis,” directed by Fritz Lang.
“One of the volunteers contacted a fellow from Greensburg who was extremely excited because memorabilia from that move is very collectible,” Kessler said. “That window card was auctioned off by Sotheby’s, and we netted $24,000.”
A second window card for the movie that had a small bend in one corner was auctioned several years later and sold for about $13,000.
The Casino Theatre officially reopened its doors in August 1995. Three years ago, Mickey Rooney performed there, and in April, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson gave one of his last performances before dying Aug. 23.
“Every year we do a magic show for children at the end of October, and during the first weekend of December, we self-produce ‘Hometown Christmas.’ This year, it will be a musical revue,” Kessler said.
On Nov. 25, 14 bands will put on a benefit concert at the Casino to help the organization pay the heating bill.
“This is a fun place to be. The people who volunteer here are very enthusiastic,” Kessler added.
The Vandergrift Improvement Program — VIP — is another nonprofit organization comprising local residents, businesses, municipal and state government officials working to protect, preserve and restore the community through the National Trust for Historical Preservations’ Main Street approach.
“We had 15 vacant storefronts out of 100 stores in our town. We didn’t want the town to rot away,” said Wayne Teeple, vice president of the 100-member VIP.
The premise of the town’s Main Street approach is to encourage economic revitalization through a four-pronged system — design, economic restructuring, promotion and organization — to address all of the commercial district’s needs.
The town, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is in the first year of the Main Street program.
“We had to raise $94,000 to obtain funding for a Department of Community and Economic Development Main Street grant,” Teeple said. “Within a three-month period, the residents and Vandergrift government pledged that amount over a five-year period.”
The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, a nonprofit historic preservation group, was hired to manage the Main Street program, said Eugene Matta, director of the foundation’s real estate and special-development programs.
Shaun Yurcaba, of History and Landmarks, is Vandergrift’s Main Street coordinator. She is helping VIP coordinate its efforts.
“The four committees working in design, economic restructuring, promotion and organization fulfill the requirements of the Main Street program,” Yurcaba said.
The design committee is developing guidelines for the protection of historical buildings during changes or renovations. Those on the economic restructuring committee are determining how many businesses are downtown and what types of businesses are in place in order to gauge what improvements are needed.
“The organization committee works on establishing relationships with other community organizations such as the Casino Theatre renovation group and the historical society,” Yurcaba added.
Trying to bring people into town is the work of the promotion committee, which sponsors events such as a summer car cruise and a 2007 pet calendar contest, in which people cast ballots for their favorite pet photos at Vandergrift businesses.
“Once we go into year two of the Main Street project, we become eligible for an $80,000 grant — $30,000 of it will be available to downtown building owners in the form of grants,” Teeple said. “They can apply for a $5,000 matching grant for renovating the facades of their buildings. We already have five building owners interested in this.”
Other groups are working toward Vandergrift’s revitalization, as well.
“Sustainable Pittsburgh is working with us so that Vandergrift becomes a green sustainable development,” Matta said. “And the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative through the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering is also working on quite a project in Vandergrift.”
Sustainable Pittsburgh served as the “matchmaker” between the initiative and Vandergrift, said Eric Beckman, co-director of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative.
“The goal of MSI is to create the next generation of technology that is cost-effective and sustainable,” Beckman said. “We brought in a team of undergraduate engineering students into Vandergrift and asked them if they could bring energy conservation to the Casino Theatre. The question became ‘How do you lower energy bills without destroying the historic value of the community?’ ”
The shallow, yet swift-flowing Kiski River, which surrounds Vandergrift on three sides, might be able answer, Beckman said. The group submitted a proposal to the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance for a sustainable creative energy grant.
“We went in on this proposal with Sustainable Pittsburgh. Whatever we come up with in Vandergrift, we could use in other parts of the state,” Beckman said. “Eventually, we want to create something that will generate electricity and try it out in Vandergrift. The town will be our test bed.”
All the partnerships have helped VIP pick up steam on revitalization projects.
“Other towns are calling us for information. Everyone has a passion for this, and it’s something that’s really taking off,” Teeple said.
Marjorie Wertz can be reached at .
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Plans for Walgreens store get council’s OK
Staff and wire reports
Thursday, October 26, 2006Pittsburgh City Council unanimously approved plans Wednesday for a controversial Walgreens drug store in Point Breeze.
Construction could begin as early as April, once the city Planning Department approves a site plan.Neighbors of the proposed 14,550-square-foot store at the corner of Penn and Braddock avenues for months have objected to Paradise Development Group’s plan to raze three Victorian houses to make way for a two-lane drive-through window attached to the store.
In a compromise reached in September and OK’d yesterday, Paradise agreed to knock down only one home, which Paradise will purchase.
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Present-day Market Square ‘just a big joke’
By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 22, 2006New plans are afoot for sprucing up Market Square, the more than 220-year-old acre of public space that has been home, variously, to Pittsburgh City Hall, the first Allegheny County courthouse and — up until the early 1960s — a produce market house.
Although proposals for adding temporary art and activities, including those geared toward children, are among the improvements being mulled, there are fixtures that local merchants say are impeding positive public use.La Gondola Pizzeria owner Sergio Muto calls them “the statues of Market Square.”
“When I come in the morning, they’re here,” Muto said. “When I go home at night, they’re still here.”
They are the dozen or so people — mostly middle-aged men — who locals say spend most of the day and evening perched on the low marble walls around the southeastern quadrants of green space. With St. Mary of Mercy Church’s Red Door program around the corner handing out bagged lunches six days a week, Market Square long has been a place where the homeless can pass time.
Although merchants such as Muto and Dan Konieczny, manager at Jenny Lee Bakery, which has been Downtown since 1938, expressed empathy for the destitute, they say the panhandling and other behavior by some keep would-be patrons from lingering in the area, particularly at night.
“Too many of the regulars are doing drug deals or asking people for money,” Konieczny said. “The garbage, the language. You can make all the changes and redesigns you want. You’ve got to get rid of the bums,” he said. “Market Square is just a big joke.”
“It’s kind of shady,” said Heather Bitar, who works at nearby Point Park University.
Patronizing a farmer’s market stand in the square last Thursday during a spate of warm weather, Bitar said she avoids the area at night and on weekends. Even during the daylight, she said she has seen people arrested and recently a woman “throwing a fit, emptying her purse out on the ground and screaming that someone stole her drugs.
“But what are you going to do, post ‘No Loitering’ signs? It’s a public park,” she said.
And therein lies the challenge that has bedeviled Pittsburghers for much of the four decades. How do you tell people with nowhere else to go not to go to Market Square, with its legacy as a public space?
Since the 1963 demolition of the Diamond Market house — an elevated building straddling Forbes Avenue that featured a second-floor roller rink — Market Square has gone through several reconfigurations and even more proposals, said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
In the mid-1970s, Ziegler said then-Mayor Pete Flaherty tapped into federal funds to hire students to replace the square’s asphalt roads with Belgian brick cobblestones in an effort to restore a Colonial atmosphere and encourage many of the same outdoor activities, such as sidewalk dining and art exhibits, that remain elusive today.
“Once the market-house demolition occurred, it became a place that didn’t quite know what to do with itself,” Ziegler said. “It’s gone through a number of revisions, none of which have been fully successful.”
It has played host to Steelers pep rallies, anti-war protests and rallies featuring national political figures. On April 15, 1985, a woman wearing a flesh-colored bodysuit and long, strategically draped hair rode through the square on a horse to protest taxation.
But today such public exhibitions tend to be less deliberative. A naked woman arrested in the square in June was merely fleeing after trying to shoplift a bag of peanuts from a Smithfield Street vendor, police said.
Although reported assaults were down from 11 in 2001 to three so far this year, and Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Cheryl Doubt said officers have managed to drive out the open-air drug activity of the past, more resources are needed. Since budget cuts in the early 1990s, only a single daytime beat officer monitors Market Square; he was not replaced during a recent four-month leave.
Michael Edwards, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which commissioned the recent study by New York-based Project for Public Spaces, said enhanced police presence, at least initially, would be key to revitalization.
“We can’t be successful without stepped-up police enforcement of the rules,” Edwards said. “The way we’ll take back the square is through recognizing the need to manage it, and we’ll need the city’s resources.”
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said last week that the city will consider making some financial commitment to better management of the square, but he also expects “leadership from the business and foundation community.”
Edwards said the partnership has a $100,000 grant from the Colcom Foundation and hopes to land a similar one from the Heinz Foundation to begin planning events that will draw more people to Market Square — perhaps around Light Up Night on Nov. 17, or for extended outdoor dining in the spring.
“One of the things we heard loud and clear is, we’re done designing,” Edwards said. “The community is pretty tired of that.”
A redesign contest that was discussed earlier this year has been put aside in favor of smaller tweaks to the existing square, such as experimenting with temporary art and event programming. If these steps are successful, Edwards said, a more structured management plan could be forthcoming in several years, as could a redesign.
Not everyone is happy about the smaller-scale approach, however.
Ron Gargani, owner of Buon Giorno, said he is disappointed that a new redesign now — particularly one that reroutes buses as late Mayor Bob O’Connor had suggested, or adds parking spaces — would not be forthcoming.
“It’s just a Band-Aid on the problem,” said Gargani, who opened for business six years ago and purchased his building in 2004. “Who wants to bring their children here when you have cars and buses continuously flying by? This square needs completely redone.”
Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com.
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Woodland Hills gathers data on school closings
By Karen Zapf
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 13, 2006A member of the Woodland Hills School Board said Thursday he understands the rationale for taking a look at closing three schools in the district by 2009.
Still, board member Fred Kuhn said he wants to look at all options before deciding whether to close Shaffer Primary in Churchill, Rankin Intermediate in Rankin and East Junior High School in Turtle Creek.“They’re on the table for discussion,” Kuhn said. “But they may all be taken off the table. It (the study) is in the beginning stages. I want to get more information.”
Kuhn said Shaffer, Rankin and East Junior High have declining enrollment.
District enrollment has dropped 3.2 percent over the last four years and total enrollment is projected to be at 5,100 in 2009, Kuhn said. About a decade ago, the district had about 6,000 students.
The reasons for the declining enrollment, Kuhn said, include lower birth rates, people moving because of tax rates, and other educational options, such as private schools and Propel East in Turtle Creek, a tuition-free, independent public school.The district needs a long-term financial plan in part because the teachers’ contract expires in June. The tax rate in the Woodland Hills School District is 23.9 mills.
Deborah Pike, Shaffer Primary Parent Teacher Organization president, said she wants more information from the district about the proposal.
Pike, of Churchill, said enrollment declined from 365 several years ago to 320 this year. Shaffer houses pupils in kindergarten through third grade. It’s a “decent-sized school,” she said. “It’s not like our halls are empty.”
Pike said it would be challenging to move the students at Shaffer to the other district schools because parking is limited at Edgewood Primary, and Wilkins Primary might not have space for more children.
Karen Zapf can be reached at kzapf@tribweb.com or (412) 380-8522.
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Developer bids on 10 church properties
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 13, 2006The Follieri Group, a Manhattan-based developer, bid on 10 church properties in the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, in what could be its biggest sale in decades, diocesan officials announced Thursday.
“We have received sales agreements on 10 church properties,” said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese. “Those parishes are being consulted.”Lengwin declined to divulge the locations of the properties, vacancy status, or the amount of the offer.
“We could be talking about churches,” he said. “We could be talking about convents. We could be talking about schools.”
If the deal goes through, Lengwin said, it would be the largest purchase in the diocese by a single buyer of church property during his 25 years. He said he does not know how many vacant buildings are in the 214 parishes in Allegheny, Washington, Greene, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties.
“There is no timetable,” he said. “It’s something we’d like to do as soon as possible.”
Marcy Simon, head of communications for the Follieri Group, said the firm has submitted bids on area properties, although she did not identify which.
“We’ve not closed on any properties, we have not owned any properties yet,” she said last night.
She said the company was built on the teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and in developing properties, the company’s model is “to always give back to the communities we acquire properties in” and “look to the local resources that are available in the community to work on the development projects.”
Lengwin previously said Follieri was interested in buying St. Nicholas Church on Route 28 in the North Side. He would not say yesterday whether it is among the 10 properties.
Follieri’s earlier interest in St. Nicholas angered the Croatian American Cultural and Economic Alliance, which thought it was close to a $250,000 deal with the diocese for the church, rectory, garages, a parking lot and contents. The alliance planned to spend more than $1 million to convert the church — home to the first Croatian parish in America — into a historical center and shrine.
“I’m certainly disappointed, because we put a lot of work and effort in this,” said Dr. Marion Vujevich, alliance chairman. “We got the short end of the stick.”
Susan Petrick, secretary of the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation, also is disappointed.
“If the diocese’s true intention is to make it into a shrine, they should not consider offers from people who do not have the same intention,” she said. “I doubt that Follieri has any intention of making it into a shrine.”
PennDOT considered razing the 105-year-old church for a $130 million road-widening project, but spared it when the alliance and other groups secured a historic designation from the city.
Drawings by Astorino architects call for developing a park or Croatian village near the church, plans that would fall through if Follieri buys the church, Vujevich said.
But, said Lengwin, “We are always looking at that situation to see how we can resolve it.”
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7828.
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Arts center kicks off remodeling of building
By Kimberly Kweder
For the Tribune-Review
Thursday, September 21, 2006Inside a vast and empty room, the Rev. Regis Ryan walks along the dusty, old, wooden floors with his eyes scanning the white walls, blue ceiling and railings that line a balcony.
Another room adjacent to the right is nothing but a gutted ceiling, a floor full of broken pieces of material.“This building is beautiful,” said Ryan, director of Focus on Renewal Inc. “Everyone agrees this is fantastic.”
It’s beautiful, he said, because a $3.4 million dollar remodeling project at the bare, three-story furniture store will transform it into art studios, offices, classrooms, a 125-seat theatre and space for a wide variety of social gatherings.
The Sto-Rox Cultural Arts Center at 420 Chartiers Avenue in McKees Rocks will bring the visual, performing and literary arts together for all ages.
A partnership between the Community Outreach Partnership Center at Point Park University and Focus on Renewal developed two years ago to work toward revitalizing McKees Rocks. They are spreading the word to neighbors, foundations and state and local officials to promote the need for an arts center.
A kickoff event Sept. 13 at the center gave residents of the Sto-Rox School District, Community Outreach Partnership Center participants and public officials an opportunity to view the design plans. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, McKees Rocks Mayor Jack Muhr and representatives from State Sen. Wayne Fontana’s office also supported the cause.
“I think it opens doors and is certainly a cultural value to the whole region. I understand the arts are growing, and I think it’s a good thing for everyone,” said Fontana, D-Brookline, who toured the facility with Ryan months before any work was done on it.
Work started over the summer.
“Everybody’s excited about this … It’s a valuable addition to the town,” Ryan said.
“We hope it brings life and vibrancy to the neighborhood,” said Sister Sarah Crotty, an Aliquippa resident who works with Focus on Renewal as part of her ministry through the Sisters of St. Joseph, based in Baden.
Focus on Renewal Inc. still needs to obtain a large chunk of funding for the project.
The Allegheny County Department of Economic Development approved a $470,659 grant for interior upgrades last May. However, Ryan said, about $3 million more is needed for the entire project.
For the past two years, a handful of Point Park students and adjunct faculty have volunteered with the Community Outreach Partnership Center. They provide afterschool programs for Sto-Rox School Districts students that teach theatre, dance and music from the students. At the end of every session, students registered in the program perform on stage and show off their skills.
About 100 students have registered for the program this semester, said Pat Moran, Community Outreach Partnership Center director.
“It’s been increasing about 10 to 15 percent every semester,” Moran said.
“It has sparked enthusiasm in the community, and adults have been begging for programs for themselves, too. The community is anxious to get the doors open (of the cultural center).”
Ryan said he is optimistic the center will open next fall.
Taris Vrcek, executive director of the McKees Rocks Community Development Corp. and a third-generation resident of the area, said the arts center will act as a catalyst for other projects to start.
“The arts center is a huge start to the revitalization process. It’s symbolic because it involves the people’s heart, mind and soul and creates a place for residents to come together.”
Arlene Lichy, 55, a Sto-Rox resident, said she’s going to use the center when it opens. Lichy has displayed her artwork at a gallery in Lawrenceville and said the center will provide her another venue. Lichy also said her 10-year-old grandson loves art, and she hopes he and other youngsters will be able to take classes at the center.
“This is a poor community, and we’re looking for something positive to look forward to,” Lichy said. “It just takes a lot of persistence, lots of money, though.”