More than six decades after being driven from its land, Bethel AME Church is returning home.
With voices raised in praise to God, members of the congregation and supporters celebrated an agreement Friday that enables the Hill District church to reclaim part of the old Civic Arena site — the same land it was booted from 66 years ago in the name of urban renewal.
In consecrating what he called “holy ground,” the Rev. Dale B. Snyder, Bethel AME pastor, said the deal reached with the Pittsburgh Penguins after more than a year of negotiations could serve as a model for restorative justice.
“We have been through some bumpy, bumpy roads, but thank God, we are here today,” he said.
Under the deal, the Penguins, who hold the development rights to the 28-acre arena site in the lower Hill, have agreed to transfer 1.5 acres just below Crawford Square to the church for redevelopment.
Bethel AME, the oldest Black church in the Hill with a history dating back to 1808, is planning a three- to four-story mixed-use development on the land, one that would feature 280 to 350 apartments, with 20% of them dedicated to low- and moderate-income families, as well as a daycare center.
Rev. Snyder, who estimated the total cost of the project at roughly $130 million, said he also is open to adding commercial components. He noted that the overriding goal is to generate enough revenue to sustain the church and its various missions in perpetuity.
“We want to get this right. We want this to be a model for across the country where eminent domain went through black communities to build highways, stadiums, to displace the economic upturn of African American communities, and took away sustainable businesses that were already flourishing,” he said.
Bethel AME’s goal, he stressed, is to produce revenue that will support the church’s “ministry to solve problems in the urban core.”
The property Bethel AME is receiving is not on the same plot of ground that the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority took through eminent domain in 1957 to demolish the church and clear the way for the Civic Arena’s construction.
That site was more toward the middle of the 28-acre arena property. But Rev. Snyder pointed out that the land it is receiving near bordering Crawford Street and Bedford Avenue on the upper portion measures about 60,000 square feet – much larger than the original 13,100-square-foot parcel that held the church.
The original spot “was not large enough for us to do a marketable development that would produce revenue for Bethel into perpetuity and as a result of it, as we negotiated, we went from 13,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet, which would allow us to do a development that would be profitable for Bethel,” he said.
Still to be decided is whether Bethel AME will have any worship space as part of the new development. Rev. Snyder said the overall plans are still in the preliminary stages as Bethel works to finalize an agreement with a developer and raise money for the project.
Rev. Snyder said he will look to private, public, and philanthropic sources to help raise money for the project. But he emphasized that he is confident that Bethel will have the money it needs to start the work.
Less than a week after Easter, Friday’s gathering had a redemptive air about it, as worshippers raised their voices to God to offer thanks and prayers to “repair the hearts of the least of them intentionally locked out and left out in the dark.”
Craig Dunham, the Penguins’ senior vice president of development, described the agreement with Bethel as a “really, really important day in the legacy and the history” of the site.
The Penguins won the development rights to the 28 acres in 2007 as part of the deal to build PPG Paints Arena. The arena site, he said, was part of 98 acres of the Hill District cleared in the 1950s, destroying businesses and displacing thousands of residents, most of them Black.
“The Penguins understand and take very seriously this legacy of urban renewal. Our actions, along with our public partners in advancing this redevelopment, reflect this understanding, the commitment to restorative development,” he said.
Bethel’s vision for the site “aligns with our vision for this redevelopment,” he said, and fits with the team’s plans to build housing near Crawford Square.
“We are pleased to make land available in this block, which was part of what we received, and to support their efforts,” he said. “We are here today to celebrate an agreement that advances the Penguins’ vision for restorative development and Bethel’s vision for restoration of their community.”
“This is a glorious day to try — try — to right some wrongs that were done almost three quarters of a century ago,” added Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
“When you think about the folks that were displaced, the institutions that were displaced, the businesses that were displaced, and when Bethel AME Church was displaced, it had a rippling effect not just in the year or two that it happened but on for many, many years,” he said. “It is great that we are now coming to a point where we are bringing back things that should have been left where they were years ago.”
Mayor Ed Gainey Lauded Rev. Snyder and his congregation for fighting through adversity and standing firm in their desire to reclaim the land they once had.
“I think it takes faith to move mountains and you’ve actually proved that today,” he said.
Rev. Snyder said one of his priorities in redeveloping the 1.5 acres is to “create a positive ecosystem for African Americans within a sustainable mixed use development” and prepare children for the future.
“Our desire and our goal is to create this incubator system for those who are ... left out, locked out, and closed out, to create a way for young mothers who are struggling to raise their children,” he said. “I want to give our children a first opportunity. I want them to have a head start that’s really a head start.”
For the Rev. Errenous E. McCloud Jr., bishop, Third District, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the deal between Bethel AME and the Penguins has given him a new-found rooting interest.
“I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan living in Georgia since Mean Joe Greene pulled off his jersey and gave it to a little boy. Now I’m a hockey fan,” he said to laughter and applause. “I admit you’re going to have to teach me the game. But I know which hockey team I like — the Pittsburgh Penguins.”
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: April 14, 2023, 8:46 p.m.
Updated: April 14, 2023, 10:41 p.m.