Behind the veil of an old mill town, a renaissance is unfurling like the river on which it rests, and you’re invited to come see it for yourself.
Within the 0.7 square-mile borough of Millvale, one can embark on the Allegheny River from Three Rivers Rowing Association’s Training Center in a 20-seat dragon boat developed in ancient China. Then, one might come ashore and wander down River Front Drive to escape with a local brew from Strange Roots Experimental Ales, whose locally sourced, spontaneously brewed offerings have been derived from everything from blue cheese to yeast strains extracted from 16th-century cabinets.
To round out the day, one might meander up Lincoln Avenue to listen to an internationally touring punk band play inside an early 20th-century church at Mr. Smalls Theatre.
That’s just another day in Millvale, and it could be your day, too.
On June 17, Doors Open Pittsburgh is hosting an open house-style neighborhood tour from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. that will take attendees behind the scenes of Millvale businesses and historic landmarks, architecture and local artwork. Tickets are availabe at doorsopenpgh.org for $20 ($15 for seniors).
“Millvale has always been an eclectic group of people, regardless of its time period,” said Millvale native and Strange Roots founder Dennis Hock. “It’s the epitome of the melting pot, a mixture of cultures coming together in one small, tiny, little area and that’s never changed. But now, it’s more eclectic than it ever was.”
Some of the borough’s newest attractions have taken root since a September 2004 flood caused by Hurricane Ivan. Since then, both financial and sweat equity investment by longtime community members, leaders, community organizations and newcomers have steadily brought new life to old structures.
Three Rivers Rowing Association executive director Matt Logue compared the community's path to rowing the Allegheny.
“Even in my short time here, seeing how much development has gone into the park between the pavilion and the playground and all the work they’re doing there.... It’s gonna sound cheesy, but it seems like a natural flow with the river,” he said. “It's progressing and moving forward and we're all part of it together.”
While Logue moved to Millvale from New York, Hock says his family has been around since before the founding of the United States. The boy who grew up experimenting with organisms he found in Girty’s Woods to use in the fermentation process was away serving in the military when the floodwaters rose in 2004. His return home presented him with an opportunity.
“They (town council) had all these properties that were just sitting around and nobody was doing anything with them,” Hock said. “I said, ‘Just give me a chance.’ They gave me a chance and it started to grow. I just wanted to bring that area up again and do my part as much as I could.”
Doors Open Pittsburgh founder Bonnie Baxter, a native of neighboring Shaler, said numerous similar efforts by locals and community leaders have helped shape the town.
“These are really wonderful people who really have Millvale in their best interest and it’s just very endearing,” Baxter said. “That’s hard to come by.”
Hock set down his Strange Roots in 2009 inside a former trolley station, but he isn’t the only area resident or entrepreneur that’s been open to experimentation.
Fellow brewery Grist House set up shop in what was once a slaughterhouse, a diesel engine repair shop and an electrical warehouse. Abeille Voyante Tea. Co. sits within the former Millvale Library.
The new Millvale Community Library, housed in a former electronics repair shop, is funded by the community and powered by dozens of solar panels. In that vein, in 2012, the community took has also taken up a systemic environmental focus as an EcoDistrict, aimed at tackling food, water and energy issues. In the arts, one of Pittsburgh’s most well-known music venues, Mr. Smalls Theatre, was built in an old church.
“In my opinion, I think it's the most exciting part because you're not getting rid of the past, you're just changing the future,” said Hock.
“We're finding these old buildings that can be repurposed and reused into new things based upon their structure, based upon the the industry of the day when it was built, how it was built and it's kind of neat to see how people take to that.
“You go into an old building, and you might see something specific and in your mind and in your perspective, you can do X, Y and Z with it and it would look great. Then you get somebody else that comes in and sees it completely differently. That's why I'm so excited ... to see how people have redone these buildings because they do have a lot of architecture, they have a lot of culture to them, they have a lot of history.
“There's a lot of spirit in those buildings.”
Stops on Doors Open Tour
Abeille Voyante Tea Co., 211 Grant Ave. Learn about the art of tea blending within a part of the old Millvale Library building.
Gardens of Millvale, 22 Butler St. Take in growing spaces birthed by flooding which now include a greenhouse, urban farm plot, community gardens and a fruit orchard.
Grist House Craft Brewery, 10 E. Sherman St. Imbibe at a former slaughterhouse, diesel engine repair shop and electrical warehouse that offers up a variety of craft beers.
Kessler Kaminski Public Art Murals, 513 Grant Ave. Uncover Millvale’s history via four murals created by Pittsburgh public artist Sandy Kessler Kaminski, who will be present during the tour.
Millvale Borough Building, 501 Lincoln Ave. Peek behind the curtain of Millvale’s operational center.
Millvale Community Library, 213 Grant Ave. Appreciate how a group of Millvale volunteers picked up the pieces after Hurricane Ivan destroyed their former library to repurpose a former electronics repair shop.
Millvale Tree Friends, 135 Grant Ave. Experience Millvale’s sense of whimsy with an urban art piece by Max Gonzales and Shane Pilster.
Millvale Volunteer Fire Department, 501 Lincoln Ave. Delight your kid with the opportunity to touch a big red firetruck.
Mr. Smalls Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave. Unwind with live music or even wrestling in the heart of a reused early 20th-century church.
Mt. Alvernia Motherhouse, 146 Hawthorne Road. Wonder at the architecture and scope of a campus that hosted both a convent and school for those hoping to become teachers at regional parochial schools.
St. Matthew Parish/Holy Spirit Church, across from 110 North Ave. Marvel at stained glass, religious statues, columns and three bells with names and histories dating back to 1915.
Strange Roots Experimental Ales, 501 E. Ohio St. Meet a Millvale local whose family settled in the neighborhood before the U.S. declared independence from England while inside a former trolley station that now serves up alcoholic beverages brewed in concert with the local environment.
The Maple Leaf, 115 Sedgwick St. Immerse yourself in the working and healing spaces of local artists and enjoy a gallery show by contemporary art group “Group A,” which has been at it since 1944.
Three Rivers Rowing Association, Millvale Campus, 90 River Front Drive. Try your hand at something new in state-of-the-art rowing tanks, check out a demo, or be inspired to set forth like 2,500 rowers before you.
Vanka Murals, St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church, 24 Maryland Ave. Feel the history of and historic artistic flourish of the first purpose-built Croatian Catholic Church in the United States.
Veterans of Foreign War Post 118, 605 North Ave. Thank a veteran, listen to their stories and check out a brass clock made from a World War I plane propeller.
Yetter’s Candy, 504 Grant Ave. Indulge in an old-fashioned, multi-generational confectionery shop that features a chocolate conveyor belt and learn from the family matriarch.
Josh Ewers: jewers@post-gazette.com.
First Published: June 12, 2023, 12:54 p.m.
