DOCSLIB.ORG

Preserving the Ethos of Industry at the Carrie Furnaces

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Preserving the Ethos of Industry at the Carrie Furnaces Preserving the Ethos of Industry at The Carrie Furnaces: The Redevelopment of an Industrial Heritage Site and ARCHIVES the Interpretation of Manufacturing Culture MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE By OF TECHNOLOLG Y Sunny Menozzi JUN 2 9 2015 B.S. Political Science and Russian LIBRARIES United States Military Academy, West Point, 2008 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN CITY PLANNING ATTHE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2015 ©2015 Sunny Menozzi. All Rights Reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. ,Signature redacted Signature of Author i_ _______ \ ...... ; () v 'Q'epartment of Urban Studies and Planning '\...a'J _ 1 May 21, 2015 Certifiedby_Signature redacted ____ - v Professor Dennis Frenchman Department of Urban Studies and Planning /l / /" Thesis Supervisor Accepted by_Sig nature redacted ____ Professor Dennis Frenchman Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning Preserving the Ethos of Industry at The Carrie Furnaces: The Redevelopment of an Industrial Heritage Site and the Interpretation of Manufacturing Culture By Sunny Menozzi Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on May 21th, 2015 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in City Planning ABSTRACT This thesis proposes design principles and a program for site of the Carrie Blast Furnace Plant, a National Historic Landmark in Pittsburgh’s Monongahela Valley. The Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County intends to redevelop this 168-acre former industrial site in the near future. In anticipation of this regionally important redevelopment project, this thesis considers the philosophical commitments of historic preservation, weighs economic growth imperatives, explores how the Carrie Furnaces could be made to cultivate public memory of industrialism, and examines competing visions of significance, authenticity, and interpretation of heritage sites, particularly in the context of deindustrialization. Four cases studies of internationally renowned projects demonstrate best practices in the redevelopment of historic blast furnace plants, ironworks, steelworks, and collieries. The Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park and Zollverein Park in Germany, the Belval City of Science project in Luxembourg, and the Parque Fundidora in Mexico all provide lessons in the preservation and adaptive reuse of derelict industrial infrastructure. Though their contexts differ, these four cases offer a common set of best practices to guide the Carrie Furnaces project. First, through designs and programs, these projects interpret the stories of industrial heritage sites for contemporary audiences, thereby cultivating public memory. Second, these projects’ adaptive reuse of historic structures and spaces creates new, contemporary relationships between the sites and their various public audiences. This, as well as the fact that the designs are inspired by site-specific characteristics and are decidedly of their places and times, imparts authenticity. Third, these projects promote local economic revitalization through mixed-use development that engages broad constituencies. Finally, the projects use elements that pay homage to the industrial forms, materials, and culture that characterize their places. This paper’s proposed development program and design for the Carrie Furnaces site preserves the site’s “ethos of industry” through a 21st-century manufacturing and tourism program that interprets the Carrie Blast Furnace Plant as a site of historic, vertically-integrated iron and steel production for the contemporary public consciousness. This program also promotes multi-sectoral economic growth, reconnects ailing nearby communities to the site, and conserves the material and cultural aesthetics of steel production, labor, thrift, and enterprise that made industrial Pittsburgh the center of American heavy manufacturing. Thesis Advisor: Dennis Frenchman Title: Leventhal Professor of Urban Design and Planning; Associate Dean, School of Architecture and Planning JUN 2 0 2016 Thesis Errata Sheet Author .. ~U-~fl.YM~Dg~~i.. .... ... --·- ... _ Primary Dept . .~f9.?lf} St~di~s. and.J'la,_f.mir:t9 ..... Degree M:G~P.: ........ ·" Graduation date . Jun 2015 Thesis title Preserving the Ethos of Industry at The Carrie Furnaces: · ·The Redevelopment·of-- an-.Jnd1.1strial Heritage ·Site ·and·the .... ___ ·-·------·--~"""·- ·· ____ lntfilPJetation of ManufacturjngJ;ulture___ ________ # _____,. ___ * .... - --·-· .. ... .. ... ·•· -- . ...• . .... ....•......••..•........... •.. ., . .......... .......................... ....... Brief description of errata sheet Corrects typographical errors, formatting errors {e.g., incorrect font or font size), and incorreotly-formatted-information-in-feotnotes, image Gredits, and·bibfiography; -adds-· ··· ~-~!_~§_jJJJ,~g~ Wf?[..8 c,~wr~d tQJ!rla_9~::9f~gt~~Q~.ects tb_ree in_c;grrftflCt S_Q~~e ~~tiQ.D.~~­ corrects arp11abet1ca or ermg errors m u1u11ograpr ,y; separates u1 6 1ograpny anu image credits ···· ···-· ···· ·· - .... _-· ·· _.... ·· - ·----- ·------·-- .. _._ .... ·--··---·--,,·--···--······-·· ·-·- ···· ···· ···--· ·-······· ········ ······ ····· ··--· ~-··· ········ ·--··· - ---··· - ··· · ••••••••------,-·•••-•w·••owo·ow•• --•.. 00 ··--·•w•••,-w•••• ow••<•·•• ··--··••-oo••O••·••••o••••-• -o•• •O•••·••••-••••• •>O·=•-·••••<M••-••-.•«-·'•'•""••••~•••••-- ·'•'*·'--·•••·--·••---··-'-•--·-··•--•···-·------•·-· ••••"••W••···--··•~ . ••· ••• •••••• • •••••••••••••. ••••••••••••••• •••• • • ••·• ··•.-,.••-'-•A•·•· " •n••• •• n=-'-"'• '-h•• • , • ·••"""' ' .L ..... " •·-'-~'- ,._...,.--···•='·•'-·"' ...-~ .--. ,,.,_._,,_..,._,,_, ,..,. v ·•~wvv, Number of pages __!-2_ _(11 maximum, including this page) .. Author: I request that the attached errata sheet be added to my thesis. I have attached two copies prepared as prescribed by the current Specifications for Thesis Preparation. Signature of author 'STg nat LI re redacted - -·· . ---··----·····- Date _:5J;:g:;i_f\k .. l./ _... Thesis Supervisor or . Chair: I approve the attached errata sheet and recommend its addition to the stud 's thesis. Signature ___ ~jg natU re redacted --... __ Date J;.._... ~ .( 2- lb Name ~-----¥-..-:__fl~~ - -[] Thesis supervisor ~pt. Chair .- Dean for Graduate Education: I approve the attached errata sheet and direct the Institute Archives to insert it intJ1 cogies ~ nt's thesis held by the MIT Libraries, both print and electronic. s. nt d ----t d 1gna ure re ac e fl.I 2- 0 11"' Signature ...................... -....... ~ ...... _....... ........ ··-·-·---- ····· ··--·.------·-·-"-···· .. .., ··-··--· ··· -·-· Date ___ ] ____ ]'. Name ----.. ~<i>h:n~_i2t·fl'~-----------------·~ Errata - p.1 Pg. 8, bullet 9 Text: Programmatic Division of the Site (font Avenir, 10 pt.) Corrected Text: Text reformatted to Avenir 11 pt. Pg. 10, lines 2-4 Text: The Carrie Furnaces site…at the center of Pittsburgh (font Avenir, 10 pt.) Correct Text: Text reformatted to Times New Roman 12 pt.; text indented and realigned Pg. 10, lines 5-10 Text: The site is oriented…to the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation (font Avenir, 10 pt.) Corrected Text: Text reformatted to Times New Roman 12 pt.; text indented and realigned Pg. 13, lines 4-5 Text: I first apply…, and then, apply a descriptive analytical framework I developed. Corrected Text: I first apply…, and then apply a descriptive analytical framework I developed. Pg. 17, citation 12 Text: Charles Wethered, On. Restoration by E. Viollet-Le-Duc and a Notice Of His Works an Connection with the Historical Monuments of France. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, 1875. P. 65. Corrected Text: Charles Wethered, On Restoration by E. Viollet-Le-Duc and a Notice Of His Works and Connection with the Historical Monuments of France. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, 1875. P. 65. Pg. 21, citation 29 Text: Douet 2012 (essayist Neil Cossons, “Why Preserve the Industrial Heritage?”) Corrected Text: Cossons, Neil. “Why Preserve the Industrial Heritage.” In Industrial Heritage Re-tooled: The TICCIH Guide to Industrial Heritage Conservation, edited by James Douet, 6 – 16. Lancaster, UK, Carnegie Publishing Ltd.: 2012. Pg. 21, citation 33 Text: Douet, 8 (essayist Neil Cossons, “Why Preserve the Industrial Heritage?”) Corrected Text: Cossons in Douet, 8 Pg 22, citation 39 Text: Douet, 37 (essayist Louis Bergeron, “The Heritage of Industrial Society”) Corrected Text: Bergeron, Louis. “The Heritage of the Industrial Society.” In Industrial Heritage Re-tooled: The TICCIH Guide to Industrial Heritage Conservation, edited by James Douet, 31 – 39. Lancaster, UK, Carnegie Publishing Ltd.: 2012. P. 37. Pg. 22, citation 40 Text: Douet, 8 (essayist Neil Cossons, “Why Preserve the Industrial Heritage?”) Corrected Text: Cossons in Douet, 8 Pg. 25, citation 51 Text: “Battersea Power Station.” No Date. Web. 4 Mar 15. [www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk] Corrected Text: Battersea Power Station. Development Official Website. No Date. Web. 4 Mar 15. [www. batterseapowerstation.co.uk] Pg. 25, Citation 52 Text: “Tate Modern.” The Art Fund official website. Online. No Date. Web. 14 Mar 15. [www.artfund.org] Corrected Text: “Museums and Galleries: Tate Modern.” Art Fund (official website). No Date. Web. 4 Mar 15. [www.artfund.org] Pg. 25, citation 53 Text: Garrod, Nick. “Turbine
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Carrie Blast Furnace Tours Kick Off 2013 Season with Animal Friends and Bluegrass Folk Band the Seams on May 25
    Carrie Blast Furnace Tours kick off 2013 Season with Animal Friends and Bluegrass Folk band The Seams on May 25 Contact: Sherris Moreira Director of Marketing for Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area 412.464.4020, ext. 46 [email protected] The Carrie Blast Furnace Tours in Rankin and Swissvale, Pa, are on-deck for the 2013 tourism season with a little help from some four-legged friends! The first self-guided tour kicks off May 25 with nonprofit group Animal Friends and some of their adoptable pets along with the musical stylings of steel rock folk band The Seams. A portion of the tour proceeds will go toward the animal shelter organization. The blast furnace complex, managed by Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area since 2010, used to be part of the US Steel Homestead Works. At one time, the site was key in preparing the country to enter World War II and providing the iron to create armour plating for ships and tanks. The pair of furnaces operated from 1907 to 1978 and the site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Soon-to-be featured in the Christian Bale film “Out of the Furnace” and recently featured in Netflix “Hemlock Grove” series, PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow”, and a Wiz Khalifa music video, the blast furnace site is becoming a popular film/set backdrop in the region. Tour guests will begin at the Carrie Furnace Complex Visitor Center which includes a gift shop and theater area which is powered through solar electric provided by ZeroFossil Energy Outfitters. Tours include a visit to the Stationary Car Dumper, installed during modernization efforts at Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7 in 1925-26.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Catalog Alloy Pittsburgh 2013
    CARRIE FURNACE Rankin, PA 15218 CONTENTS MATERIAL 8 Establishing Relationships 10 ERIC SHINER 12 EDWARD MULLER Preserving Industrial Landscapes and Community PROCESS 14 Reimagining Familiar Places 16 RESIDENCY RESEARCH 31 LECTURE SERIES 36 RYAN KEENE The Human Scale PRODUCT 38 Art in Dialogue with Place SEAN DERRY AND CHRIS MCGINNIS 40 Memory, Accessibility, Resilience. 44 WILL SCHLOUGH 48 MEGHAN OLSON AND KARA SKYLLING 52 ANNA MIKOLAY 56 ANIKA HIRT 60 CARL BAJANDAS 64 DAN WILCOX 68 EDITH ABEYTA 72 EMILY SCIULLI 76 KYLA GROAT 80 LAURIE BARNES 84 MICHELLE COLBAUGH 88 RYAN KEENE 92 AMBER NIEDOMYS 6 ALLOY PGH Alloy Pittsburgh was co-founded by Pittsburgh artists Sean Derry and Chris McGinnis in 2012. The program was developed in collaboration with the Kipp Gallery at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. Derry and McGinnis hope to build upon Pittsburgh’s industrial legacy by formalizing an ongoing collaborative program that will foster new community partnerships, celebrate novel ways of reimagining familiar places, and advance the careers of artists from the region. INTRODUCTION 7 MATERIAL Establishing Relationships Alloy Pittsburgh was conceived as a laboratory where emerging artists from the Pittsburgh region would create temporary site-based artworks that investigated the creative reuse of the Carrie Furnaces National Historic Landmark. The Carrie Furnace is over 100 years old and unique in its age and design. Built under the principles of functionalism, the site’s open-air design and physical intricacy are unmatched as sources of creative inspiration. 8 9 Eric Shiner ERIC SHINER ERIC SHINER is the Director of In June 2012 The Andy Warhol Museum opened “Factory Direct” The Andy Warhol Museum, the in a 19th century warehouse space in Pittsburgh’s historic Strip most comprehensive single- artist museum in the world, district.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic and Cultural Resource Plan
    CHAPTER 4 HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCE PLAN I HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT The region was inhabited by the Delaware, Seneca, Shawnee and Mingo peoples when European traders and trappers As discussed earlier in Chapter Three, the growth of arrived to work along the County’s rivers. Native Americans Allegheny County and its communities has been strongly were largely nomadic, hunting and gathering food for influenced by the Three Rivers, abundant natural resources – survival. However, a few permanent settlements were especially high quality bituminous coal deposits – and established along the rivers, notably Shannopin’s Town proximity to major transportation routes. (a Delaware village near present-day Lawrenceville), Logstown (present-day Ambridge), and Chartier’s Old Town Hundreds of millions of years ago, the land that would (a Shawnee village in present-day Tarentum). Their homes become Allegheny County was covered by a shallow were built of log huts and bark. The Native Americans ocean. The flat sea floor was uplifted and altered by bartered with fur traders from England and France, trading erosion, resulting in a landscape characterized by steep beaver pelts for goods such as salt, blankets, guns and hills with relatively narrow ridge tops and steep-sided valleys. gunpowder. The French took care to befriend the Indians, The Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converged to form a friendship that would become very important. the Ohio River. Through geologic time these rivers carved the Allegheny Plateau into the rugged terrain of today. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR The land is underlain by limestone, sandstone, shale and coal, which helped to fuel the emergence of our County’s “As I got down before the Canoe, I spent some Time in industry in the late 19th century.
    [Show full text]
  • CARRIE FURNACE 2013 Update
    CARRIE FURNACE 2013 Update FAST FACTS TIMELINE LOCATION: Allegheny County, PA 1884 Original furnaces built in Ohio. SIZE: 168 acres 1898 Andrew Carnegie purchases furnaces from Fownes FEATURES: Large Parcel, Flat Land, Riverfront Location Brothers. 1906-7 Furnaces 6 and 7 built. OWNER: Allegheny County 1978 Furnaces 6 and 7 closed. CURRENT USE: Vacant Land 1982 Last operable furnaces (3 and PAST USE: Blast Furnace 4) closed. CONTAMINANTS: PCBs, Sulfates, 2005 Allegheny County buys site from Park Corporation. Asbestos, Iron, Petroleum 2006 Furnaces 6 and 7 become a TOTAL PREDICTED COST: $300 million to National Historic Landmark. $400 million HISTORY Although the Carrie Furnaces are best known as a part of US Steel’s Homestead Works, the first furnaces at the site were originally built in Ohio in 1884 for the Fownes brothers. They were purchased by Andrew Carnegie and relocated to the Homestead complex in 1898, six years after the bloody labor conflict at the works known as the Battle of Homestead. Furnaces 6 and 7, which are the focus of plans to preserve the site’s remaining industrial infrastructure, were added by US Steel after the change in ownership. In 2006, after Allegheny County acquired the land from the Park Corporation, the furnaces became a National Historic Landmark. They are the only remaining pre-automation blast Image courtesy of Ronald Baraff, furnaces in the Pittsburgh area. Director of Museum Collections & Archives, Rivers of Steel. TOPOGRAPHY The property now associated with the Carrie Furnaces is divided into two parts, a 135 acre tract on the north bank of the Monongahela and a 33 acre plot on the south bank.
    [Show full text]
  • Alleghany County, PA Section 106 Programmatic Agreement- 2012
    PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENT AMONG THE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION, AND THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER REGARDING THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE CARRIE FURNACE REDEVELOPMENT PARCEL, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA BY THE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY THIS PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENT (the "Agreement") is entered into this Stymy 3 2012, by and among the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, acting by and through the REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY ("RAAC"), Pursuant to 40 U.S.C. § 550(h) and 36 CFR § 800.14(b), the ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION ("ACHP") and the PENNSYLVANIA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER ("PASHPO"). WITNESSETH: WHEREAS, RAAC owns and controls that certain property shown as Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein known as the Carrie Furnace Redevelopment Parcel (being hereinafter referred to as the "Property"; and the disposition of the Property being collectively hereinafter referred to as the "Undertaking"); WHEREAS, the Undertaking consists of preparing the Property for redevelopment, which may include excavation activities for foundations and infrastructure, construction of new buildings and roadways, grading and filling activities, installation of utility lines, and possible demolitions within the Property; WHEREAS, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has delegated authority to RAAC to serve as "Lead Agency" for the Undertaking (Exhibit B); WHEREAS, RAAC consulted with the PASHPO, pursuant
    [Show full text]
  • Meeting & Event Spaces
    MEETING & EVENT SPACES Rivers of Steel is home to several unique local attractions, including the Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark, the historic Pump House at the Waterfront, the Bost Building National Historic Landmark and the Explorer riverboat. Each of these spaces offers opportunities for private clients to host custom events at venues with authentic character—locations that highlight the artistry and innovation of this region’s rich industrial and cultural heritage. RIVERS OF STEEL: CARRIE BLAST FURNACES ~- Photo: Michael Will Photography The Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark is a space that is uniquely Rivers of Steel: Carrie Blast Furnaces Pittsburgh. A vestige of Pittsburgh’s 20th-century domination of the steel industry, Carrie Furnace Boulevard it also reflects the Pittsburgh of today—a dynamic place that’s is made stronger by Rankin, PA 15104 its diversity of its assets. A popular location for television & film scouts, Carrie has also become a space for community, social and corporate events—special occasions that bring people together to celebrate aspects of today’s culture in a context that Rental fees start at $3,500. honors a shared heritage. Venue capacity is 1,500 Carrie also appeals to modern brides and grooms as a wedding venue. The guests. contrast of vast open spaces juxtaposed with intimate ones creates an alluring atmosphere, one with logistical options for event planning. Areas such as the Parking is available for Carrie Deer Courtyard and the Green Room of the Iron Garden provide charming, yet unconventional, ceremony sites. The post-industrial nature of the space offers an 100+ cars.
    [Show full text]
  • 2015-Alloy-Brochure.Pdf
    ALLOY PITTSBURGH was co-founded by Pittsburgh artists Sean Derry and Chris McGinnis and developed in collaboration with the Kipp Gallery at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation. In 2013 Alloy Pittsburgh joined the region’s growing movement to support local artists and communities. Alloy Pittsburgh was conceived as a laboratory where artists investigate the history and ecology of the Carrie Furnaces National Historic Landmark and respond through the creation of temporary site-based artworks. Now in 2015, Alloy Pittsburgh returns to the Carrie Furnaces National Historic Landmark with a talented group of regional artists whose individual stories combine to breathe new life into a site where a network of harvested earthen materials once coalesced to produce iron. The artists’ hard work builds on Pittsburgh’s industrial legacy, fostering new community partnerships and celebrating novel ways of reimagining familiar places. REMAINING SITE STRUCTURES JOHN TRONSOR EXHIBITION ENTRY DAN IVEC & NICK LIADIS ROSE CLANCY SARIKA GOULATIA OREEN COHEN ALYSSA KAIL PATRICK CAMUT LENORE THOMAS SCOTT TURRI RICARDO IAMUURI ROBINSON OREEN COHEN PATRICK CAMUT Stan is a steel sculpture that balances 1 ton of Clairton Works coking coal and 1 cup of black coffee in a United Steel Workers Union ceramic cup. The inspiration for this piece comes from a story shared by my family about my grandfather Stan Kwasny. From 1965–1995 my grandfather drove to Clairton Works with a ceramic coffee cup in hand. His ceramic coffee cup without a Spectre and Shade is a faux stained glass installation laminated in the negative lid seemed to never spill a drop, despite how tired my pap really was.
    [Show full text]
  • April 16, 2008
    Photos Courtesy of Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, U.R.A., and Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center April 16, 2008 Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Brownfield Association and the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania Organized and Printed by KU Resources, Inc. Pittsburgh’s best and brightest brownfield reclamation projects: The South Side Works, the Waterfront, and Summerset at Frick Park The South Side’s eclectic bars, restaurants, boutiques, cafes, and bookstores beckon throngs of young and old alike, who fill the sidewalks in the evenings with energy. In the past decade, the historic neighborhood has enjoyed a meteoric rise in real estate values— uncharacteristic for the city. Another hotspot, the Waterfront, was home to the Homestead Works from 1879 to 1986. Now, it is one of Pittsburgh’s newest destinations for shopping, dining, and nightlife. Across the Monongahela River, a former slag heap is in its second phase of development. Upscale homes, a swimming pool, hotel and recreation center are sprouting upon a moon-scaped mountain. Come aboard to learn about the infrastructure, remediation process, land use, amenities, community engagement, financing, and the roles of the public and private sectors for each site. Speakers include: Damian Soffer (Soffer Organization); Jerry Dettore (Michael Baker Corporation and former Executive Director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh); John Coyne (Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh); Patrick Earley (Allegheny County Economic Authority of Pittsburgh); Craig Dunham (Rubinoff Company); and Tom Murphy (Urban Land Institute and former Pittsburgh Mayor). The tour, sponsored by the National Brownfields Association and the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania, precedes the 2008 “Business of Brownfields” Conference.
    [Show full text]
  • Forging Our Future with Public-Private Partnerships
    Forging Our Future with Public-Private Partnerships Hazlewood Green is now set to build upon successful public-private partnerships that have delivered results. Credit: Depiction LLC 2018 by JIM FUTRELL Vice President of Market Research, Allegheny Conference on Community Development he Pittsburgh region has long sought to leverage public and private sector resources to face its challenges and transform its economy. It is a heritage that dates back 75 years and continues today. Here’s a look at some of the Tpartnerships driving the next era of the region’s transformation. Hazelwood Green Credit: Depiction LLC 2018 In 1998, LTV Steel’s coke plant in Pittsburgh’s Hazlewood neighborhood. It was the last big steel plant in the city and once shuttered, turned into the city’s biggest brownfield. Located in a struggling city neighborhood and impacted by more than a century of heavy industrial use, the 178-acre parcel represented a daunting challenge to return to productive purposes. In the end, it represents one of the region’s greatest examples of collaboration. In 2002, Almono LP was formed by four Pittsburgh foundations to purchase the Hazelwood site from a bank- An illustrative vision for Hazelwood Green rupt LTV for $10 million to ensure that a thoughtful, deliberative development plan would be created that would provide maximum benefit. The Regional Industrial Devel- manufacturing companies, committed to 8,000 square feet, opment Corporation (RIDC) cleared and remediated the leaving 24,000 square feet still to be leased. Throughout site, and in 2013 the Preliminary Land Development Plan the process, nearly a dozen public sector entities provided (PLDP) was approved by the city.
    [Show full text]
  • Carrie Furnace
    WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA www.cmu.edu/steinbrenner/brownfield BROWNFIELDSCENTER CARRIE FURNACE LOCATION: Allegheny County, PA TIMELINE SIZE: 168 acres 1881 Carrie Furnace is built FEATURES: Large Parcel, Flat Land, 1892 Carrie Furnace takes part in Battle of and Riverfront Location Homestead OWNER: Allegheny County 1898 Carrie Furnace is purchased by Andrew Carnegie CURRENT USE: Vacant Land Carrie Furnace becomes part of the US 1901 Steel Corp. PAST USE: Blast furnace 1978 Carrie Furnace is shutdown CONTAMINANTS: PCBs, Sulfates Carrie Furnace is sold to Park TOTAL ACTUAL COST: no specific 1988 Corporation dollar amount obtained 2005 Allegheny County buys site from Park Corporation Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7 become a 2006 National Historic Landmark HISTORY The Carrie Blast Furnace site was built in 1881. It produced iron for the Homestead Works from 1907 to 1978. During its peak production, the furnace produced 1000 to 1250 tons of iron a day. In 1892, the site was part of the Battle of Homestead, a labor dispute that displayed the strength of unionism and also started the onset of a nearly 50 year union in the steel industry. In 2006, Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7 became a National Historic Landmark. TOPOGRAPHY The 168 acre flat piece of land is along the Monongahela River, with approximately 135 acres on the north bank of the river and the remaining 33 acres are on the south side of the river. The property is not readily accessible as it is isolated from the adjacent communities by railroad tracks and circuitous access by road. The site itself straddles the boroughs of Rankine, Swissvale, Whitaker and Munhall.
    [Show full text]
  • Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County Reconstructs
    Carrie Furnace Redevelopment Site Built in 1881 and later acquired by Andrew Carnegie, the Carrie Blast Furnace site totals 168 acres and produced molten iron-ore that would be used in the production and manufacturing of the Pittsburgh region’s most widely recognized good, steel. The site operated continuously until 1978 when USX Corporation shuttered the plant in hopes of streamlining production and lowering costs. USX later sold the site to the Park Corporation in 1988, which began dismantling the remaining blast furnaces on the site to make way for future redevelopment effort. In 2005, RAAC purchased the site and in 2006, received National Historic Landmark Designation from the Department of Interior for the remaining blast furnaces, the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge, and the adjacently located Pump House (site of the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892). As the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County continues to redevelop the Carrie Furnace site, its most recent accomplishments have been the completion of a flyover bridge which provides safe access to the site without the need to cross the three sets of railroad tracks that run parallel to the property on its northern edge. As for the importation of fill material, RAAC has completed two and a half full pads, with approximately 50 shovel-ready acres available for development opportunities. In the winter of 2016-17 RAAC will go out to bid for the final pad leading to the furnaces giving the site approximately 60 acres ready for development. RAAC is also actively pursuing funding opportunities to remediate and convert the existing hot-metal bridge into an additional point of access for vehicles, pedestrians, and bikers, creating a connection to the system of trails throughout our region.
    [Show full text]
  • County, RIDC Enter Partnership Agreement to Develop Carrie Furnace Site
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Amie M. Downs August 26, 2021 Allegheny County 412-350-3711 (office) 412-327-3700 (cell) [email protected] Desiree Niccoli RIDC 412-804-8649 [email protected] County, RIDC Enter Partnership Agreement to Develop Carrie Furnace Site PITTSBURGH – At its meeting this afternoon, the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County (RAAC) voted to enter into a partnership with the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) to develop the Carrie Furnace site. The former brownfield adjacent to the historic Carrie blast furnaces spans the boroughs of Munhall, Rankin, Swissvale and Whitaker. “RIDC has great experience in this region of shepherding projects to fruition, and we’re delighted to partner with them on the Carrie Furnace site,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “This is an important project for the Mon Valley. Today’s vote by RAAC brings additional resources to the table to develop this site into the hub of economic activity that we know it can be.” The agreement today provides for the expansion of a partnership in the redevelopment of the Mon Valley. Specifically, RIDC will develop a portion of the Carrie Furnace site, constructing and extending infrastructure on behalf of RAAC. “This collaboration builds on a great partnership that we have with RIDC and brings additional expertise and resources to the table as we move this project to the finish line,” said Lance Chimka, Allegheny County Economic Development Director. “Development sites like these remain one of the biggest opportunities for the Mon Valley, and we look forward to setting the market in a really positive way with this agreement.” The phased development will have portions for various commercial uses, including flex-tech, R&D, biotech, film production, workforce education and training life sciences, light manufacturing and assembly, and other similar uses.
    [Show full text]