Category: News || By Staff and Wire Reports

Construction continues on a new 8,400-square-foot office building in the 500 block of Fifth Avenue, Downtown.

The developer is Lawrenceville-based JRA Development Inc., and the primary tenant will be the McKeesport Office of the Social Security Administration. The new building is valued at $2.5 million.

When complete, the building will be fully taxable. While the existing Social Security office located nearby will be vacated, city officials say it has attracted interest from at least one potential tenant.

In a related story, Mayor James Brewster says the city is actively marketing the building soon to be vacated by Dish Network at the RIDC Industrial Center of McKeesport.

"We have been working with RIDC, and we have three or four other businesses interested," Brewster says. The potential tenants have asked not to be identified.

Colorado-based Dish Network has announced plans to close its McKeesport call center in March. About 600 people are expected to lose their jobs.

The pending construction of a flyover ramp into the industrial park at the foot of Coursin Street will enhance the marketability of the location, Brewster says. The ramp will allow tenants to enter the industrial park without being stopped at the railroad crossings on Huey and Center streets.

Construction of the $14 million flyover ramp, expected to begin next year, will include about $6 million from the federal "stimulus" package approved earlier this year.

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Symphony on the Air: McKeesport Symphony Orchestra's 2009 holiday concert will be broadcast over Carnegie Mellon University's radio station on Christmas Eve.

The broadcast begins at 3 p.m. Thursday on WRCT-FM (88.3) and will also be streamed online at www.wrct.org.

Sunday's concert at McKeesport Area High School featured soprano Alice Heatherington and the McKeesport Area Community Chorus under the direction of Kevin King. Selections included parts of Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Handel's Messiah, and medleys of traditional and popular holiday music.

The broadcast is a joint production of WRCT and Tube City Community Media Inc., parent organization of Tube City Almanac.

• Excerpt: Holiday Overture (MP3, 1MB)
  

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Consortium Posts Grants: The Consortium for Public Education has awarded 12 Mon-Yough school districts and two career and technology centers more than $32,000 in grants toward programs in science education, literacy and environmental projects.

The largest grant --- $4,791.50 --- goes to Clairton Elementary School for creation of a program to encourage parents and guardians to read with their children in kindergarten through sixth grade. More than 300 students will participate.

Charleroi Area Middle School receives the second largest grant of $4,650 to expand an outdoor classroom through construction of a greenhouse. Students will be able to start plants from seeds and experiment with hybridization and cross pollination.

The greenhouse is one of six environmental projects being funded this year by the city-based consortium, a spokeswoman says. Others grants will help Clairton Elementary School students study the weather; support students at Elizabeth Forward High School in recycling, gardening and Adopt-A-Highway projects; fund student research at McKeesport Area High School into bacteria; create a science lab at Steel Valley School District's Barrett Elementary School; and begin a science book discussion group at West Mifflin Area High School.

A complete list of projects is available at the Consortium for Public Education's website.

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Food Bank Makes Last-Minute Pitch: Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in Duquesne is making a last-minute pitch for holiday-themed contributions.

If donor make a gift to the food bank in honor of someone else, a spokeswoman says, the food bank will send the honoree an eCard recognizing the donation. More information is on the food bank's website.

Other holiday gifts that benefit the food bank include coffee mugs, travel mugs and etched-glass decorative plates.