Pittsburgh-born actor Billy Porter and celebrity chef Rachael Ray have joined an effort to revitalize a dormant Homewood landmark, the Urban Redevelopment Authority confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Last month, “the URA received an exciting, unsolicited proposal from [developers] Lisa Pollock, Herky Pollock and Billy Porter with the goal of transforming the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum into a community facility,” said URA board chair Kyle Chintalapalli. Ray’s involvement was confirmed later, he said.
The proposal includes restoring a roller rink previously operated on the Frankstown Avenue site, as well as including facilities for arts and culinary education, and job training in film and video. Chintalapalli said community members had already discussed the proposal and that further talks would take place in the future. But he said, “A community facility like this one — that would be able to provide community gathering space [with] entertainment and employment opportunities — is in line with what we learned Homewood wanted to see for the future of the Coliseum.”
Chintalapalli also read a statement from Porter about the proposal, in which Porter said that the arts “truly saved my life and enabled me to rise above my circumstances” — and that a revitalized Coliseum could do the same for others.
The structure could “add vitality to a struggling community,” Porter wrote, and “activate a site that is a daily reminder of how underprivileged and overlooked communities have been neglected.”
Chintalapalli also acknowledged that Porter recently made headlines by announcing he would have to sell his own home, citing the financial burdens imposed by a strike called by the union that represents screen actors. (That union, SAG-AFTRA, also represents workers in the WESA newsroom, but they are not affected by the actors' strike.) But the city is “proud to stand in solidarity with Mr. Porter as he does what he feels is in the best interest of his current and future financial investments,” Chintalapalli said. City leaders have no concerns about the impact on the project’s viability, he added.
The Coliseum started out as a trolley barn for city streetcar lines and became a community touchstone. But it has long been vacant, and recent proposals to redevelop the site have foundered. Chintalapalli said the agency would continue to work closely with Homewood neighbors, who have complained of being shut out of previous proposals for the Coliseum, to ensure the new proposal aligned with their expectations.
The URA also used its board meeting Thursday to advance other housing initiatives. It approved a proposal to expand the use of tax subsidies to encourage the conversion of underused office space Downtown into housing, with a focus on affordability for families of more modest means. URA staff said that developers had asked for the change after the effort got off to a slow start.
The agency may also contribute to the supply of housing Downtown more directly: The URA board approved taking another step in rehabilitating its former headquarters at 200 Ross Street, a now-vacant structure that also could be converted to residential use.
The structure, once the headquarters for the Jones & Laughlin steel company, has more recently been used by the URA and other city agencies. But they vacated the property after the city purchased a more modern facility on the Boulevard of the Allies, leaving the structure empty. The URA board voted in favor of a plan to issue a Request for Proposals on Friday, seeking developers willing to purchase and reuse the building: The agency said its choice will reflect a “strong preference for affordable housing.”
The URA also backed a plan to invest in housing in the Hill District, approving nearly a half-million dollars for a fund to support home repairs in the area. The program will offer up to $20,000 for homes, with priority given to those in need of critical repairs with vulnerable populations who earn less than 80 % of the area’s median income.
The money comes from a $7.1 million community reinvestment fund created to ensure Hill District residents benefited directly from the area’s ongoing redevelopment. And two years after the fund was created, URA senior manager of development finance James Reid said the agency would be able to accept applications for the money by the middle of this month.
“I’m very excited that we’re at a point right now where we … can accept applications and get funds out on the street for home repairs,” he said.
Editor's note: Developer Herky Pollock is a member of the board of Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp., the parent company of WESA.
