Once the destination for some of the state’s most hardened criminals, a former North Side prison would be demolished and the site rehabbed for industrial reuse and a riverfront park, as part of a consultant’s recommendation.
Michael Baker International is recommending the state raze all 42 buildings, including the main penitentiary, at the former State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh at a cost of $44.4 million.
It is the second former state prison in the region to face possible demolition. Last month, Hempfield Township supervisors reached a deal with the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation to tear down the 350,000-square-foot SCI Greensburg complex and prepare the site for redevelopment.
On the North Side, Michael Baker recommends that the prison be demolished and the site remediated and positioned for redevelopment before being sold to a private buyer or possibly conveyed to the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority.
In a 71-page report completed earlier this summer, it also proposes that 5.2 acres of the property along the Ohio riverfront be set aside as a public park, part of which would be integrated into the Three Rivers Heritage Trail that runs by the old prison.
The recommendation comes even as Michael Baker acknowledged that tearing down the prison would hurt the thriving filmmaking industry at the site — the scene of six major productions — and could drive Hollywood to vacant prisons in West Virginia.
But absent guaranteed commitments on use by the film industry, “the buildings offer very little opportunity for reuse given their current physical condition,” the report found.
“No clear path to future ownership of any retained buildings or structures is an obstacle to redevelopment of the entire site. These risks outweigh the potential future revenue that could be generated by the film industry thus making retention of the buildings a nonviable option,” it stated.
‘Few — if any — buyers’
Michael Baker deemed demolition and repurposing the 21.7-acre site for industrial reuse the most viable of three options it considered in trying to determine the highest and best use for the property. Another involved selling the entire property “as is” to a private buyer. A third looked at demolishing 39 structures while retaining the main penitentiary building, the North Wall, and guard stations 1 and 2.
The latter offered the potential for continued film production and the added advantage of, in essence, using the main penitentiary as a barrier to prevent contaminated groundwater at the site from reaching the Ohio River.
Without the structures, a groundwater treatment system will have to be installed and operated at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Despite the advantages, including a $13 million savings on demolition costs and the potential to still offer much of the site for industrial reuse, the report dubbed the option “not feasible” absent a long-term agreement with the film industry for use of the main penitentiary building.
Selling the property “as is” is a nonstarter, the report concluded.
“Based on the findings of this study, it is believed that there would be few, if any, buyers in the marketplace to competitively bid on the project that would be willing to assume the financial and environmental liabilities involved with preparing the site for reuse and that would have the fiscal capacity to implement the project,” it stated.
In recommending the demolition of all buildings, Michael Baker stated that it also would be in keeping with the desires of the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood where the prison is located.
“Neighborhood representatives who participated in the stakeholder engagement process voiced their strong opposition to retaining any portion of the facility, which left standing would serve as a continuing reminder of its negative emotional legacy and social injustice,” it stated.
Those stakeholders preferred that the buildings be removed and that the site be prepared “for new job creation and employment opportunities for local residents,” the report stated.
Jake Wheatley, chief of staff to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, said the city supports the report’s recommendation — at least in terms of demolishing the structures and making the site development ready. Mr. Wheatley, a former state representative whose district included the old prison, said former Gov. Tom Wolf committed to that in closing the facility in 2017.
But at the same time Mr. Wheatley was hesitant to embrace the report’s recommendation for an industrial reuse.
While open to such a possibility, “I think people have to have a better understanding of what the market is saying and what the community wants,” he said. Neighborhood objectives, he noted, include jobs at the site, a possible recreational outlet and entrepreneurial elements.
“We’re open to all conversations once we get to the point that it is development ready,” he said.
Prison was ‘one of the key selling points’ for filming
State Sen. Wayne Fontana, a Brookline Democrat whose district also includes the prison, likewise backed the Michael Baker recommendation.
“It’s too late to do anything else,” he said. “The one they picked is the most logical one at this point. It’s the most desirable for someone coming in and developing it.”
Mr. Fontana said there is more than enough money available through the state’s rainy day fund and COVID-19 relief monies to fund the demolition and remediation.
“The question is whether [Gov. Josh Shapiro] wants to spend $45 million or whatever it is on it,” he said.
Much less enthused about the recommendation is Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office.
The region, she said, could lose film work with the demolition of the prison buildings. The “Mayor of Kingstown” is doing a third season of production at the site. The prison, Ms. Keezer said, “was one of the key selling points” in producers selecting Pittsburgh to film the series.
The penitentiary has also been used for the “Outsiders,” “American Rust,” and “Prison Girl.”
Besides the economic benefit and prestige that goes along with such productions, the industry has invested more than $500,000 to improve the main penitentiary building and others, the report stated.
“It’s the only true economic generating activity that has happened at that facility since its closure and we plan to continue to use the facility as long as it is possible to do so,” Ms. Keezer said.
At the same time, she noted that no one from the film industry has stepped up to buy the prison, also known as Western Penitentiary, even though it is frequently used for production.
The recommendation also could run afoul with preservationists who see a historic significance in some of the prison buildings. The site itself is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Included in the nomination were 24 buildings, including the main penitentiary.
Michael Sriprasert, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, said the old warden’s residence on the river side “is very important along with the iron fence surrounding all of it.”
“If a new use could be found for the original stone cell block building, that would be remarkable. If a section of the cells could be saved the way we did at the Allegheny County Courthouse Jail, we believe that would be significant,” he said.
“The wall enclosing the northern end of the complex is impressive. The other interior buildings are not.”
‘Highly marketable’ — for multiple purposes
Other possible reuses the study looked at were for offices and an indoor sports complex. Office was not a prime candidate because of the “intensity of industrial uses along the riverfront” and concerns about competing with Downtown and the suburbs.
Industrial makes sense because the prison is located in an area already well established for such purposes, the report suggests. It estimated that a developer should be able to build and lease about 100,000 square feet of space a year, near term. The site itself could hold more than 400,000 square feet.
Positioning the site to be “pad ready” would make it “highly marketable” to potential buyers or for conveyance to the URA for disposition, the report stated.
“Given the high demand for pad ready sites in the Pittsburgh area, it is anticipated that the site could be quickly developed and begin generating tax revenue and creating new jobs for the city and community,” it added.
David Koch, executive managing director of the Newmark real estate firm, said the recommendation “makes sense” given the site’s proximity to the city and the infrastructure surrounding it.
Beyond the $44.4 million price tag for demolition, the report estimates additional spending of $3.9 million for floodplain mitigation and $1 million to remove asbestos.
The prison property has been in limbo since September 2017 when Manchester Bidwell Corp. voided an agreement it had with the state to buy the facility.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: August 3, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: August 4, 2023, 9:44 a.m.
