Category: Mon Valley Miscellany, Rants a.k.a. Commentary || By

First things first. I was quoted last night in a Daily News editorial about WEDO (810). It's the second time I've been mentioned in the News in a week.

Both times, they used my middle initial, "P," which I've never used in my entire life.

I don't really mind, but I'm not sure why they're using it.

Personally, I've always thought it's a little silly to use your middle initial unless there's a chance you're going to be confused with someone else ("Joe L. Brown" vs. "Joe E. Brown").

And in case you're wondering, the "P" stands for "Pennypacker."

. . .

Someone emailed me privately to ask if the Penn-McKee Hotel and the Eagles lodge are as bad as city officials say they are.

"Towns love to knock down such places," he said. "I just stayed at a hotel on the square of Abbottstown, out past Gettysburg --- another town with a pretty small potential market, but they've fixed it up beautifully.

"'Boutique hotel' seems an apt description --- about 10 rooms, all the old wood and fixtures restored, but in a modern way that my family would love it, i.e. it doesn't feel 'old.'

"A little restaurant downstairs plus a bar and nice porch make it an amazing place. I'm sure during the restoration people said, 'it's crumbling plus who would want to stay in this town?' but I'm glad they hung in there --- it takes vision."

Well, yeah, it does, and vision's been in admittedly short supply in the Mon Valley for a long time.

But a couple of issues spring to mind.

. . .

First, the Eagles is pretty far gone. I'm no engineer, and I don't play one on TV, but when the roof of a old building begins falling in, and the walls begin visibly shifting, it's not long before it's going to collapse.

And that's where the Eagles stands right now ... and I use "stands" in the loosest possible sense.

Could the Eagles be saved? In the sense that you can "save" anything by throwing enough money at the problem, yes.

However, because of the way buildings like the Eagles were constructed, you would essentially have to dismantle the building, erect a steel frame inside, and rebuild the exterior walls.

I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that project would probably cost $2 million, and you'd essentially no longer have a historic structure. It would just resemble the old building on the outside.

And what would you do with it then?

I don't want to discourage anyone from investing that kind of money in a labor of love, but it would be hard to justify on a strictly cost-benefit basis.

. . .

That brings us to the Penn-McKee. As Jim Armstrong points out, the building is steel-frame construction with concrete floors. I've seen the construction photos; the exterior brick walls don't provide structural support.

Given the amount of water and insect damage the building likely has after more than 20 years of being vacant, you'd have to gut it. But it's imminently usable, for now.

Oh, and don't worry about the "historic value." The Penn-McKee was never an elegant hotel; it was the Motel 6 of the 1920s. After the Sheraton Motor Inn opened on Lysle Boulevard, it turned into a flophouse.

The Penn-McKee is in a highly-visible location, one block from the marina and the Palisades, with an adjacent parking lot, and a city-owned lot across the street.

When the Great Allegheny Trail is completed through Downtown, it will pass almost under the hotel's windows.

Maybe I'm wrong, but in my opinion, the failure to redevelop the hotel after all of these years suggests a lack of will rather than a lack of opportunity.

. . .

One serious problem is that McKeesport doesn't have any organized historical preservation group:

• Greensburg has the Westmoreland Cultural Trust (and access to money from the Scaife and McKenna family charities).


• The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has its hands full in its namesake city.


• Homestead and Munhall are close enough to Pittsburgh to attract attention from Oakland academics and national preservation experts.

McKeesport doesn't have any rich families nearby, and it's too far from Pittsburgh, so if we're going to do anything, we're on our own.

At one point, a group calling itself the "Historical Society of McKeesport" was trying to save some houses on Shaw Avenue's "Millionaire's Row," but I don't know whatever became of them.

I keep hearing from residents of McKeesport and the surrounding boroughs, "isn't it a shame" that buildings like the Penn-McKee and the Eagles are decaying.

Well, if you want to save them, you'd better take matters into your own hands. McKeesporters have always been self-reliant. Let's not sit around waiting for someone else to rescue us.

And if you want to start a preservation group, I'm happy to spread the word here.

Or my name isn't Jason Pewterschmidt Togyer.

. . .

Two New Blogs: I recently discovered two new news blogs of local interest:

• Steel Valley Matters is sponsored by the Steel Valley Enterprise Zone, Steel Valley Chamber of Commerce and Homestead Borough.


• SA Weekly is operated by students from South Allegheny High School

Stop by and tell 'em Jason Pangborn Togyer sent you.

. . .

And Finally: From the National Politics Desk, an absolutely devastating takedown of Michelle Malkin and Fox News by John Scalzi. It's very partisan, but very funny.