August 07, 2008

Putting the 'URA' Into 'Bureaucracy'

Here's a little story about a boy from McKeesport, the G.C. Murphy Co., and Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority.

You've heard of the URA. That's where (according to some people) you can get a free electronic billboard with the purchase of a home-theater surround-sound system for the executive director and his wife.

Once upon a time, the McKeesport-based G.C. Murphy Co. had a giant store in Downtown Pittsburgh, a small village (and getting smaller every day) north of Our Fair City (which has shrinkage problems of its own, and not just while swimming).

Then some ogres from Rocky Hill, Conn., bought up all of G.C. Murphy Co.'s shares of stock and proceeded to fly everything into the side of a mountain. (Or maybe it was a Rocky Hill, now that I think of it.)

. . .

The store in Picksberg wound up in the clutches of the McCrory Corp., which was controlled by Meshulam Riklis (better known as Mr. Pia Zadora).

While Mr. Riklis amassed a fortune in rare antiques and oil paintings, McCrory Corp. went down the toilet.

You might say that Mr. Riklis got the paintings, and McCrory's investors got the brush.

The abandoned store was purchased by the URA. (Remember? This is a story about the URA.) Anyway, the boy from McKeesport was writing a history of the G.C. Murphy Co., and asked the URA if he could go into the store and take some photos.

Letters were exchanged. So were emails. So were phone calls.

. . .

First, the URA said "yes." Then "maybe." Then they told the boy that the store was "too dangerous" because of water leaks that damaged the floors and ceilings.

(The boy was too polite to point out that the water was leaking through all of the windows the URA had left open.)

In the meantime, an architecture student contacted the boy to tell him that she was allowed to tour the building. The boy called the URA to say, "What the fudge?"

"Let us get back to you," the URA said. They didn't. Probably they were distracted by all of the smoke from the free cigars. Or maybe they were busy running other stuff besides the URA, like the planning commission.

. . .

Then a movie was filmed using the old G.C. Murphy Co. store as a set. A member of the movie crew emailed the boy. "There's all kinds of historic stuff upstairs," he said. "Pictures of all of the employees, signs, stuff like that. How come you haven't preserved this?"

The boy contacted the URA. "Go talk to the developer," they said this time. But the developer didn't have a key to the building yet --- because the URA was still the owner.

And then, the URA went through the building with shovels, saws and pickaxes, tearing down everything it could. "Asbestos abatement," they said.

No one could explain how photos and signs were made from asbestos, or why those had to be thrown away, too. But out it all went, into trash bins and off to landfills.

. . .

All the URA left behind were some historic mouse droppings, vintage 2008 cups from Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, and an antique Playboy centerfold on the wall.

The boy thought about writing a nasty letter to the URA, but was frankly told not to bother, because it was too late to correct the problem, and they wouldn't care anyway.

Besides, it usually doesn't help to tell someone they're a blockhead. You might as well tell as a skunk that it smells.

The boy also wondered, in retrospect, if maybe he should have tried greasing someone's palm. Unfortunately, he's a boy from McKeesport, and he couldn't afford fancy cigars and home-theater systems.

All he had were some skeins of G.C. Murphy Co.-brand yarn, but he didn't think anyone at the URA would want that anyway, except maybe to knit some caps to warm the heads of the URA's director and his wife, the mayor's ex-press secretary.

. . .

Sadly, this story doesn't have a moral. But the boy from McKeesport has noticed that both the URA director and his wife are follically challenged.

The boy from McKeesport has some experience in that area. He has more scalp than hair, and he recommends wearing a hat in the summertime.

Getting one's bare scalp sunburned is no fun.

Right now, the boy from McKeesport is burned, all right, but on his other end.

And as far as he's concerned, the URA is welcome to kiss that part.

Posted at 11:50 pm by Jason Togyer
Filed Under: Rants a.k.a. Commentary | five comments | Link To This Entry

August 06, 2008

Research Grows from Penn State's 'Ag' Office

A new research program is about to raise Penn State University's profile in Western Pennsylvania and will likely pay dividends for students at the campus in McKeesport.

"One of the big areas we're working in right now is alternative energy --- particularly biofuels," says Deno De Ciantis, who's tentatively being billed as "director of the Greater Pittsburgh Metro Initiative." (One of the many things yet to be determined, De Ciantis says wryly, is his title.)

Currently being housed at Allegheny County's agricultural extension office, the proposed Pittsburgh research center is a joint effort of Penn State's Cooperative Extension, College of Agricultural Sciences, and Office of University Outreach.

Eventually, it will also include Penn State's colleges of Engineering and Arts and Architecture.

The direct impact on McKeesport and vicinity is hard to estimate. Unfortunately, the research center will probably not be located at the Greater Allegheny Campus in McKeesport; De Ciantis says Penn State is looking for office space closer to Downtown Pittsburgh.

But there will be opportunities for students at the Greater Allegheny Campus and Penn State's other campuses to get involved in research throughout the region, he says.

"There are tremendous opportunities around for students who want real-world experience, but sometimes it's difficult for them to get into the metro (Pittsburgh) area if they don't know who to approach," says De Ciantis, a Pittsburgh native who has worked for Penn State for 15 years and previously served as county extension director.

The university's intent is to better match needs in local communities with research being done at the University Park campus and the "regional" (Penn State calls them "Commonwealth") campuses.

Although Penn State has $140 million in assets in Allegheny County, De Ciantis says, people tend to think of the university as "that entity way out there" in State College.

(Even the mention of the "county extension office" is likely to mystify city dwellers, but as De Ciantis points out, the extension office's programs go far beyond answering agricultural questions. Through the Allegheny County extension office, residents have access to training in child care, economic development, and environmental health and safety.)

"We're trying to figure out how to better position ourselves," he says.

Besides the obvious, ongoing relationship between the Mon-Yough area and the Greater Allegheny Campus, which currently serves about 800 students, Penn State is already partnering with nearby community organizations.

Two years ago, Penn State helped Allegheny East MH/MR Center Inc. (now called Milestone) develop a hydroponic greenhouse in Elizabeth Township, near the Yough River bike trail.

The 3,840-square-foot greenhouse at "Yough River Trail Gardens" provides job training and vocational therapy for adults with mental health issues or disabilities. It's also growing produce year-round that's sold through two major food distributors.

And just yesterday, Penn State helped launch a new electricity co-generation plant. Exhaust from the propane heater used to keep the greenhouse warm will now generate electricity as well; any surplus electricity will be sold back to the power grid.

The 4.7-kW co-generation plant was funded through a $29,000 grant from the state's Energy Harvest program.

Other research projects are trying to identify uses for brownfields and vacant urban commercial and residential lots. In September, De Ciantis says, a group of students in Penn State's renowned landscape architecture program will begin a semester-long project with Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority to develop low-cost, sustainable ways to improve blighted neighborhoods in the city.

There are also efforts underway to examine the role that urban farming might play in Allegheny County --- converting vacant city land to produce food, and employing local residents.

"We're trying to identify needs and find resources with Penn State that can help address those challenges," De Ciantis says. "There's a whole bunch of stuff happening."

Posted at 5:51 pm by Jason Togyer
Filed Under: News | four comments | Link To This Entry