Category Archive: Preservation News

1. $1.5M will help arts center transformation in McKees Rocks

   May 18, 2007 10:03 am

   By Sandra Fischione Donovan
   FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
   Friday, May 18, 2007

   A $1.5 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation will help a McKees Rocks community group continue its transformation of an old storefront into the Sto-Rox Cultural Arts Center.
   “Oh, it’s going to be grand,” said the Rev. Regis Ryan, executive director of Focus on Renewal, a nonprofit that operates a health center, credit union, high-rise apartment building and social services programs.

   The agency is remodeling the former Desks Inc. on Chartiers Avenue. After buying the furniture store two years ago, the group began remodeling with $500,000 from Allegheny County and another $500,000 from the Grable Foundation, Ryan said.

   The $3.4 million center will include a 130-seat auditorium, art studios and classrooms. The nonprofit expects to finish work by the end of the year.

   Focus on Renewal currently runs its cultural arts programs — music, theater, dance, visual arts and literature — in Sto-Rox schools. Once it’s complete, the arts center will host those classes and performances. Movable seating will enable the auditorium to be used for receptions, Ryan said.
   Officials said $1 million of the Richard King Mellon grant is unrestricted; the remainder will come as a match if the McKees Rocks group raises another $500,000.

   “We are in the process of raising the rest,” Ryan said.

   The group is soliciting donations from former McKees Rocks residents involved in the arts, through its Where Are They Now Committee.

   A spokeswoman for the Richard King Mellon Foundation said any comment on the grant would have to come from the foundation’s director, Scott Izzo, who was on vacation and unavailable.

   Ryan predicts the center would be used throughout the day. Programs for young people would be scheduled after school and on weekends. But he hopes to convince school officials to allow students to take some classes there. The center would be open during the day for adult programs and classes.

   “It will be a wonderful asset for the whole region,” Ryan said.

2. Fort Duquesne drain discovered

   May 16, 2007 10:05 am

   By Jodi Weigand
   TRIBUNE-REVIEW
   Wednesday, May 16, 2007

   Tom Kutys knew right away that he found something special.
   Kutys, 24, whose archeology firm is monitoring the $35 million renovation of Point State Park, was working in a trench two weeks ago when he found three capstones. He thought it might be a wall, but the hollow, brick lining told him otherwise.

   “It was just three rocks with mortar between, but when we started further investigating it, things started popping up that tipped us off,” Kutys, a field technician with A.D. Marble & Company, said Tuesday.

   Archaeologists believe Kutys unearthed a 200-year-old Fort Duquesne drain that drew water away from a storehouse or munitions storage area.

   “This is, to my knowledge, the first physical evidence of Fort Duquesne that’s ever been identified since the late 18th or early 19th century, when remains were still slightly visible,” said Brooke Blades, a archeologist with A.D. Marble, based in Montgomery County.
   It is the third major archaeological discovery at the park since the start of the renovation project, which will convert the area into a festival and concert venue. Archeologists previously found decades-old human bones and part of Fort Pitt’s interior wall.

   The drain was found 2 1/2 to 4 feet below ground on the southeast side of the park’s Great Lawn area, about 40 feet south of the Fort Duquesne tracery — the brick outline of the original fort.

   “The construction (of the drain) suggests it was made in the late 18th or early 19th century, and the distance from the remains of the fort clearly argue for association with Fort Duquesne,” Blades said.

   Fort Duquesne, built by the French in 1754, was destroyed four years later as the British advanced during the French and Indian War. The British then built Fort Pitt in its place.

   Few remnants of Fort Duquesne have been found.

   Blades said archaeologists plan to follow the drain north and look for other evidence of Fort Duquesne, which might be near the surface.

   “The fact that we’re finding things argues that there may be extensive evidence of Fort Duquesne intact,” Blades said. “Probably the lowest part, because buildings would have been eradicated.”

   The archeological work will not delay renovations. The drain will be preserved and buried for a future excavation project, said Laura Fisher, senior vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, a sponsor of the renovation project.

   “It will be covered up in the short term,” she said, “but what we hope to do is come back and have an active program for archeology in the park.”

3. Fort Duquesne remnants uncovered

   May 15, 2007 10:07 am

   By Tribune-Revew
   Tuesday, May 15, 2007

   Archaeologists have uncovered long-buried remnants of Pittsburgh’s original fort, state officials announced today.
   A drainage system that once served Fort Duquesne in the mid-1700s was found during a $35 million renovation of Point State Park, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

   The fort was later replaced by the much larger Fort Pitt, which was situated further up the Point and protected about 600 people during the French and Indian Wars in the mid-18th century.

   Park renovations have been underway since December and included the controversial burial of a section of Fort Pitt that contained original bricks. Remnants of Fort Duquesne had been buried more than 100 years ago when the Point grew into a bustling railyard.

4. The Bridges of Pittsburgh

   May 12, 2007 11:36 am

   Phoenixville News
   Phoenix, AZ
   05/12/2007

   The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn. – Davi Russell

   According to the Oxford English Dictionary a bridge is “a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle, such as a river, canal, railway, etc.”

   Certain parts of the country are identified with their bridges. What would New York City be without the George Washington Bridge or the Brooklyn Bridge? What would Philadelphia be without the Walt Whitman Bridge or the Betsy Ross Bridge? What would San Francisco be without the Golden Gate Bridge?

   As of December 2004, there were 594,470 bridges in the United States (Better Roads magazine). Pennsylvania ranks eighth with 23,484.

   Which city in the world has the most bridges? Most of us would answer Venice, Italy, which boasts approximately 400 (small) bridges or perhaps St. Petersburg, Russia (also known as the Venice of the North) which claims 308 within the city limits.
   You may be surprised that the best estimate of the number of bridges in the City of Pittsburgh, Pa., is 446, the undisputed “City of Bridges ” in the entire world.
   The three basic types of bridges are beam, arch, and suspension. A beam bridge is a horizontal beam supported at each end by piers. The farther apart the piers are spaced, the larger the beam must become.

   An arch bridge is a curved structure with supports on both ends. With centuries of use, a simple arch bridge reaches across a span in an arching shape rather than straight across as a beam bridge does. Leonardo da Vinci once said, “An arch consists of two weaknesses, which, leaning on each other, become a strength.”
   A suspension bridge has its deck suspended from cables and towers. The suspension bridge can span great distances but they are also very expensive and time consuming to build.

   Pittsburgh is also known as the “City of Three Rivers”: Allegheny and Monongahela which combine at “The Point” to form the Ohio River. And when you combine those waterways with the local terrain, there is a perfect need for many kinds of bridges: pedestrian, automobile, railroad, bus, light rail, water, hot metal, and incline-carrying bridges. It has or has had covered bridges, wooden bridges, all steel bridges, toll bridges and bridges of every style, shape and form except for a drawbridge.

   With that many bridges, one would expect some “bridge firsts” in Pittsburgh and here are a few:

   * First all steel self-cleaning bridge (McFarren Avenue Bridge )
   * First self-anchored suspension bridge (Pennsylvania Canal )
   * First wire cable suspension bridge (Pennsylvania Canal )
   * First computer-aided design bridge (Fort Pitt )
   * First and only three identical side-by-side bridges in the world (The Three Sisters; ironically two of the three are named after men, i.e. Roberto Clemente and Andy Warhol).

   If this subject fascinates you as it does me, you may want to pick up The Bridges of Pittsburgh by Bob Regan (2006). There you can learn everything from bridge safety to bridge design and from their place in arts and entertainment to the origin of their names. You can even learn about how you can tour the bridges by car or bicycle or walking or by riding on the river.

   The first time I drove into Pittsburgh was in the late 1960s. The last time was a few months ago. No matter how often I visit, however, I always find it a challenge navigating around and across those bridges. One wrong turn can get you far from your preferred destination.

   If you suffer from gephyrophobia, the fear of bridges, you may want to avoid Pittsburgh. But now that I have read Bob Regan’s book I have a whole new appreciation for the transportation challenges between those three rivers.
   In a month or so I am scheduled to go to Pittsburgh on business. I can only imagine what I will see that I had never noticed before.

   Think about it.

   Editor’s note: Dr. Meyer is President of Valley Forge Christian College, Phoenixville. Responses can be e-mailed to president@vfcc.edu

5. Abolished commerce taxes spurrs growth in Avalon

   10:09 am

   By Richard Byrne Reilly
   TRIBUNE-REVIEW
   Saturday, May 12, 2007

   Attorney Steven Shreve has no regrets about moving his busy Downtown law firm to Avalon last year.

   The sleepy town of 5,000, less than six miles from Pittsburgh, has well-maintained homes, low crime and stable property prices, Shreve said. He purchased a former movie theater with high ceilings and brick walls on California avenue and moved in with his staff in November. He closed another office he had in adjacent Bellevue.

   “There’s a congenial environment for business and for living here. You can walk on the main drag. Avalon is strategically located. I can access (Route) 65 and (Interstate) 279 easily, and I have two ways of travelling north and south,” Shreve said.

   He isn’t the only one. Doctors, attorneys, accountants and other small-business owners are increasingly setting up shop in vacant storefronts and houses, said borough manager Harry Dilmore.

   They are doing so, merchants say, because they don’t have to pay business privilege and mercantile taxes. The borough abolished the taxes in August. The roughly $30,000 a year it lost in revenue, Avalon more than makes up in new commerce and vitality.

   Two attorneys opened offices last year, Dilmore said, in addition to accountants, a private detective agency, and a computer communications specialist. Eight doctors and other medical professionals have a presence on California Avenue, Avalon’s main thoroughfare.

   Dilmore, borough manager for five years, sees a future predicated on a successful small business community.

   “We’re altering zoning ordinances that will spur small business development,” said Dilmore, who favors golf shirts tucked into Dockers-style khakis.

   Dilmore will propose a measure May 16 to prohibit buyers from converting large, single-family residences into multi-apartment units. The borough wants to attract families and businesses that will keep the homes intact and in good condition. Financial grants the borough obtained through Allegheny County would help qualifying small-business owners clean up property and install facades, Dilmore said.

   Like much of the county, Avalon deals with declining population, says Constance Rankin, head of the North Suburban Chamber of Commerce. Rankin is an attorney and publisher of a small newspaper in Bellevue. The borough’s population dropped from 5,294 in 2000 to 4,962 in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

   “Avalon is doing something about it. There’s an emphasis on code enforcement. A quality of life committee, residential cleanups, Dumpster days. They have brought in outside experts. They’ve done useful things to improve the quality of life,” Rankin said.

   Avalon attorney and borough Councilman Patrick Narcisi, whose office is a few doors down from Shreve’s, founded the Avalon Quality of Life Committee last year. Tax abatement and tax breaks for home buyers and tweaks to zoning ordinances to prevent slum or absentee landlords to rent apartments to irresponsible tenants are crucial, he said.

   “We’re really kind of on the edge. The borough can go down rapidly. You need to work hard to keep it from doing so,” Narcisi said.

   His committee brings together the police, the building inspector, fire chief and representatives from local churches. He stresses the importance of property owners maintaining homes, and it recommends to the borough deteriorating properties whose owners should be fined. He wants to launch a database using a color-coded system that would rate properties from good to poor.

   “We’re hoping this will have a positive impact on the borough,” he said.

   Vicky Tedesco will open her children’s clothing boutique on California Avenue on Monday. Affordable rent, location and steady traffic flow sold her on Avalon. She is located across the street from the borough’s $2.2 million municipal building, which opened last year.

   Press Craft Printers Inc. has been in the same location on California Avenue for 47 years. Owner Bill Miller inherited the commercial printing business from his father. He welcomes the newcomers — and efforts Dilmore and others are making to accommodate them.

   Dilmore “is addressing different problems. He is trying to take the borough to the next level,” Miller said.

   Richard Byrne Reilly can be reached at rreilly@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5625.

6. New homes in Hill open doors to first-time buyers

   May 11, 2007 10:12 am

   By Jeremy Boren
   TRIBUNE-REVIEW
   Friday, May 11, 2007

   Goldie Harris likes the look of the tidy, new, two-story houses next to her home in the heart of the Hill District, but she’s not sure who can afford to live in them.
   “The most important thing is to make them affordable,” said Harris, 76, who has lived on Roberts Street for 11 years.

   Her new neighbors are the first eight of 29 planned houses — called Bedford Hill Homes — by the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. The homes are the newest part of an existing 400-unit, affordable housing development.

   Harris said the Bedford Hill Homes’ $150,000 price tags could be steep for some first-time home buyers.

   Tom Cummings, housing director for the Urban Redevelopment Authority, disagrees.
   He said zero-percent federal and URA deferred loans are available to cut drastically the cost of new mortgages — as long as the new owners are first-time home buyers and meet income requirements.

   The brick-faced homes have individual entrances and small front yards — a type of design that’s slowly replacing the Housing Authority’s much-maligned public housing high-rises, authority officials have said.

   The homes were developed by Hanson Design Group, Steve Catranel Construction Co. and others.

   “We believe these are more than just buildings behind us. This is an investment in the community,” said A. Fulton Meachem Jr., the housing authority’s executive director. “We are making home ownership available to all residents in the city of Pittsburgh.”

   Buyers have applied to purchase five of the eight first-phase homes, Cummings said.

   They’re expected to close those sales by the end of the month, when the second round of eight homes will begin going up, he said.

   None of the potential buyers attended a dedication ceremony Thursday in the Hill. Attending the event were Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Council President Doug Shields.

   Howard Cooper, 72, another Roberts Street resident, said a rowdy dive bar — and others like it — used to occupy the land where the model Bedford Hill home sat open yesterday for tours.

   “There’s been a whole lot of changes here,” said Cooper, who stopped by the ceremony to snap photos with his camera. “There used to be a lot of bars around here, and they caused a lot of problems” with drugs and crime.

   “I’m hoping some kids will move in now,” Cooper said. “It’s a lot better here.”

   Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.

7. Heinz Endowments Make Initial Grant for New Granada Restoration

   May 10, 2007 4:38 pm

   The Heinz Foundation have announced a grant of $200,000 to Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to work in partnership with the Hill Community Development Corporation (Hill CDC) to begin physical stabilization work for the New Granada Theatre and planning for its future use. The building was designed by Pittsburgh’s first African American architect Louis A. S. Bellinger (1891-1946). The Hill Community Development Corporation expects to have a matching grant from the State Department of Community and Economic Development.

   PHLF’s Construction Manager Tom Keffer, will begin immediately to meet with engineers and contractors to further define the immediate work program and construction budget; Eugene Matta, Director of Special Projects for PHLF, will join the New Granada Planning Committee to bring his experience in heading the team that restored City Theatre in New York to the planning effort.

8. Heinz grant to revitalize Hill District theater

   10:45 am

   Thursday, May 10, 2007
   By Ervin Dyer,
   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

   The fading New Granada Theatre in the Hill District moved a step closer to new life yesterday, thanks to a $200,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments that will begin the process of stabilizing the storied theater.

   The New Granada, one of the last remaining works of early 20th-century African-American architecture in Western Pennsylvania, is weathered from 40 years of neglect and non-use.

   “We are so excited,” said Marimba Milliones, a member of a Hill committee leading the way to polish up the former movie house and ballroom. “The Granada is just the heart and soul of the Hill. Its rehab will re-awaken the hope and belief that the Hill is going to be a great community again.”

   The Hill District grant will go to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, working with the Hill Community Development Corp. to begin stabilizing the structure of the New Granada.

   The building will require as much as $2 million to complete stabilization. The Heinz funding will be matched with a grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The funding also will support a team of local and national consultants studying possible uses for the theater.

   The theater funding was among 221 grants totaling $36.9 million that The Heinz Endowments approved during a two-day meeting of the foundation board that ended yesterday.

   The largest grant, $5 million, went to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to create the Pediatric Environmental Medicine Center.

   The program will be housed at the $575 million, green-certified hospital under construction in Lawrenceville,

   The center will focus first on developing new approaches for the prevention and treatment of asthma due to its prevalence in minority and medically under-served communities, but also in response to recent reports identifying Pittsburgh as second from the bottom in air quality among American cities.

   But the Environmental Medicine Center also will have the broader goal of making consideration of environmental links to health problems standard in any medical setting.

   The grants reflect The Heinz Endowments’ new plan to shift at least 30 percent of its philanthropy over the next five years to special areas of concentration. These include supporting the reform of the Pittsburgh Public Schools; assistance with wiser economic development that is technologically and environmentally sound; and influencing the direction of Downtown development.

   One grant that does the last is $200,000 for construction opportunities that will go to the Community Loan Fund of Southwestern Pennsylvania in partnership with the Minority and Women Educational Labor Agency. It is designed to help minority- and women-owned businesses to increase capacity so that they can successfully participate in larger construction jobs, especially those stemming from the boom in Downtown development.

   The program will provide financial backing for certification requirements that will allow these firms to bid on progressively larger projects.

   Other grants approved yesterday include:

   $3 million to the Carnegie Museum of Art to cover costs of repairs made to skylights and ceilings in its galleries.

   $2 million to the Pittsburgh Public Schools to continue the foundation’s support for Superintendent Mark Roosevelt’s Excellence for All Initiative.

   $2 million to the Carnegie Library to provide renovation, remodeling and educational resources for branches in the Hill District, North Side and East Liberty.

   $2 million to the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild to assist in establishing a $10 million endowment, and to support a new business plan designed to improve program quality and operating performance.

   $747,000 to Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future for continued operating support of the environmental nonprofit.

   A total of $700,000 to several grantees to support continued growth of charter and faith-based schools.

   (Ervin Dyer can be reached at edyer@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1410. )