The BRC newsletter - Summer 2010

Carrie Furnace Promotes Heritage Development in Pittsburgh Region
By Sherris Moreira - Director of Marketing and Tourism Development, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area

A media day at the Carrie Furnace site recently drew visitors rivers of steel to eastern Allegheny County, as area leaders revealed their vision for the century old iron making complex that used to be part of the Homestead Steel Works. The last of its kind left intact in the United States, this complex was key in preparing the country to enter World War II and providing the iron to create armor plating for ships and tanks.

"These furnaces will stand as a testament to a monumental industry," said August R. Carlino, CEO of Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, which recently took possession of Carrie Furnace No. 6 & 7 and its surrounding acreage. Carrie Furnace, a 168-acre brownfield site, sat dormant for two decades before Allegheny County purchased the land to reclaim and redevelop it. The County has been working with the five boroughs that span the site, the Commonwealth, and the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation to not only create jobs and revitalize this prime riverfront property, but also to preserve a portion of what made this region a manufacturing giant.

Federal legislation was recently introduced to establish a Steel Industry National Historic Site, which rivers of steel would include the Carrie Furnace Complex, the site of the Battle of Homestead, and the Hot Metal Bridge. The furnaces were previously designated National Historical Landmarks in 2006. Future development plans also include homes, businesses and trails as well as the historic park.

Visitors at the media event are also hopeful that the site will be preserved and the surrounding property redeveloped. "Preservation is so important to a region's/cities emotional well being," said Diana Nelson-Jones, a reporter with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The more we have that signifies the people who came before us, the more we feel grounded by something bigger than ourselves."

Laura Ainsley, Assistant Curator of Education and Adult Programs with the Frick Art & Historical Center, looks forward to potential partnerships with her organization. "The Carrie Furnace site is a fascinating and breathtaking monument to Pittsburgh’s history," she said. "I hope to coordinate programming with Rivers of Steel to give people an inside, first-hand look at the site within the context of Pittsburgh’s longstanding, complex, and ever-changing relationship with industry."

Sara Petyk, owner of Your Active City, which offers walking and cycling tours, looks forward to the day when a spur of the Great Allegheny Passage will encircle the Carrie Furnace complex. "Carrie Furnace represents a truly unique tourism resource in our area," she said. "As a history-buff and tourism business owner, the future progress of the furnace is very important to me."

To help promote the restoration of the Carrie Furnace complex and its future development, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area has begun guided public tours of the industrial site to tell the region's steel industry story and its importance to the nation's history. Tickets can be purchased at www.riversofsteel.com.