The Pittsburgh Foundation

Foundations announce detailed plans for saving Pittsburgh's August Wilson Center

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Aug. 11, 2014 --  A consortium of foundations, led by The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments, today for the first time announced its detailed plans for saving the August Wilson Center, preserving its role as a preeminent  hub for African American arts and culture.

A 'standby' bid of $7.2 million from the foundation group remains lodged with the Court-appointed conservator, Judith Fitzgerald who has recommended acceptance of a lead offer of $9.5 million from a New York-based development company, 980 Liberty. The developer is planning to construct a hotel on the August Wilson site and was recently granted a 60-day extension to complete its due diligence on the property.

The foundation consortium's bid includes a $1.2 million contribution from the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority plus $1 million from a county-related entity.

If successful, the foundations' bid will result in the ownership of the August Wilson Center building transferring to The Pittsburgh Foundation where it will operate as an affiliate organization under the auspices of its own independent and newly-appointed Board of Directors, including African American community leadership and individuals with expertise in the key areas of building facilities oversight, financial management and arts and culture facilities management.

In addition to its proposals for acquiring the August Wilson Center building, the foundations plan to consider on-going support for operations, management and maintenance of the Center for an initial period of three to five years during which public funding is also expected to be available to support the building's operations. It is anticipated that the day-to-day operation of the building will be contracted to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Separately, a community planning process is already underway for the development of robust African American arts and culture programming in the region with the expectation that this will result in the creation of a new nonprofit organization that will contribute significantly to future programmatic initiatives at the August Wilson Center.

“We have been deliberate in our strategy to separate the Center's building management from its arts and culture programming so that the August Wilson Center cannot again become encumbered by debt and possible liability," said Molly Beerman, The Pittsburgh Foundation's Interim CEO. "If our bid is accepted, the building will be debt-free. We want the Center to remain a resource for the community in celebration of African American arts and culture.”

In response to a request by the Receiver, the foundations met with representatives of 980 Liberty in May to determine whether a compromise agreement could be reached that would allow the hotel development to proceed while preserving the August Wilson Center facility. The foundations made a proposal that was rejected by 980 Liberty for the hotel to be constructed above the Center, if structurally possible, with limited hotel access via the lobby area, thereby safeguarding nonprofit ownership and integrity of the Center's existing space.

“We consider our bid to represent the only plan that will preserve the August Wilson Center, both in its structure and its mission," said Grant Oliphant, president of the Heinz Endowments. "Our plan is simple and guarantees that Pittsburgh will safeguard a cultural and architectural treasure which our community has invested tens of millions of dollars to create.”

Local foundations provided more than $20 million in grants to support the original development of the Center, with an additional $15 million-plus in funding coming from government, corporate and private investment.

Despite this, when the Center opened its doors in 2008, it was saddled with substantial debt from the outset “that no cultural center of its size in the nation could sustain and in the worst fundraising environment in a generation,” said Mr. Oliphant. “We have to remember also that it was a new facility and a new concept. And let's be clear -- every cultural center and arts facility in the country depends on charitable funding and donations to survive.

“Our bid is backed up with real money and deep community values. Destroying the August Wilson Center will not save anything. It will just destroy, and our community will be the poorer.”

 Molly Beerman added: “This is more than an issue of real estate. It is a space where we come together and wrestle with our sense of equality and diversity. We cannot afford for the wrong decision to be made about the Center's future, and we urge members of our community to make their voices heard as we strive to save this vital facility.”

The foundations expressed gratitude to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald for their stalwart support of the foundations' efforts to save the August Wilson Center.

“The URA is absolutely right to vigorously defend its covenants on the building, preserving its mission and structure," said Mr. Oliphant. "Without such covenants, future redevelopment projects would be impossible. Nevertheless, the URA's defense of these covenants speaks to a larger commitment for doing what is right by this facility and by our community as a whole.”

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Contact:
Doug Root
412-394-2647

rootd@pghfdn.org