Call it the Mark Schweiker Farewell Tour. Pennsylvania's 44th governor, who was forced to take the reins for 15 months after predecessor Tom Ridge became the nation's homeland security chief, will return to private life in January. But before he does, he's performing a duty that gives governors unmitigated joy: handing out checks.
While he's been traveling across the state, in Pittsburgh alone the governor spread around $63 million Thursday that will lead to the construction of some well-planned, long-awaited facilities. The money will leverage or partner with millions of other dollars and improve some of the community's most popular institutions.
The allocations for local capital projects around the state were compiled in a massive list by members of the Legislature. Although the state floats bonds to fund such construction, there are far too many projects for Pennsylvania to cover, so it's up to the governor to determine which get money and which get only encouragement.
Since the fall of 2001, city and county leaders, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, institutional presidents and others have reiterated their case for state support to the new governor. This week they were richly rewarded:
$25 million for the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center for a riverfront park, a tiered watercourse between Penn Avenue and the Allegheny River, motorized window shades, a fabric ceiling and environmental enhancements;
$15 million for the expansion and renovation of Dinosaur Hall at the Carnegie Museum in Oakland;
$9 million for a five-story addition to the Heinz regional history center that will hold traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution and a Western Pennsylvania sports hall of fame;
$8 million for the expansion of the Pittsburgh Children's Museum on the North Side;
$5.1 million for the expansion of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland;
$1.5 million to Point Park College for buildings that will be converted to a dance studio and performance space.
Not only will the state dollars bolster the future and quality of these Pittsburgh institutions, but they also will spawn construction that will employ hundreds of workers at a time when the economy continues to sputter.
For both the short term and the long run, these are timely public investments by Mark Schweiker -- and as good a parting shot as any governor is bound to give.
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