Category: Announcements, News || By Submitted Report

(Above: John Barna photo for Tube City Almanac)

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A new information center and gift shop will greet visitors who tour the historic Carrie Furnace blast furnace complex in Rankin and Swissvale.

This year's season of "hard hat tours" at the complex begins Saturday, says Sherris Moreira, director of marketing for Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, which manages the Carrie Furnace site. Current or retired steel industry employees will receive discounted admissions on opening day, she says.

Other events this season include a lunch presentation with Don Wildman of cable's Travel Channel, and an "I Made It! Market" on-site at the blast furnace complex.

The Carrie Furnace complex, managed by Rivers of Steel since 2010, was once part of the U.S. Steel Homestead Works. The pair of furnaces operated from 1907 to 1978, as the Homestead Works manufactured material such as armor plate for ships and tanks during two World Wars.

They are the only standing, non-operational blast furnaces remaining in the Pittsburgh area, and among the few in the world available for public tours.

The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 and has been featured on PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" and Travel Channel's "Off Limits." Wiz Khalifa recently filmed a music video at Carrie Furnaces, which has also served as a backdrop for other films.

New this season is the Carrie Furnace Complex Visitor Center, which includes a gift shop and theater area, Moreira says.

The 2012 tour season has expanded to include the Stationary Car Dumper, installed during modernization efforts at Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7 in 1925-26. As the bin filled, its contents were dropped into transfer cars that moved the material to the proper ore yard unloading pit.

This car dumper is one of the oldest in existence in the U.S. and is a contributing resource to the site's National Historic Landmark status, Moreira says.

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Steel Heritage Day will be celebrated this Saturday, with a 20 percent ($5) discount for retired or current steelworkers with proper documentation. Tickets, which are normally $25, must be reserved in advance.

Rivers of Steel will honor service men and women at the May 19 public blast furnace tour. Current members of the Armed Forces and veterans will be admitted free with proper documentation, and up to five immediate family members will receive a 50 percent discount. Carrie Furnaces is participating in a joint program with Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts and more than 1,300 museums across the United States. Tickets must be reserved in advance.

On June 16, the Carrie Furnace Hard Hat tour date will include an "I Made It! Market" event onsite as well as the opportunity to purchase a ticket for a special Lunchbox Talk with Don Wildman of Travel Channel's show "Off Limits" at the Carrie Furnace site. The Carrie Furnaces were featured on the show in November. More details are to come.

For ticket reservations, call (412) 464-4020, ext. 32, or email sdrane@riversofsteel.com .

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Other public tours will be held July 21, Aug. 4, Sept. 15 and Oct. 13. The Carrie Furnace site also will be open for guided tours at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday and Saturdays, May through October. Cost of the tour is $25 and tickets must be reserved in advance. Proceeds go toward the preservation of the site and related heritage projects.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is managed by the non-profit Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation, in partnership with the National Park Service and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. RSHC works with communities throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania to identify, conserve, promote and interpret the cultural, historic, recreational and other resources associated with steel and steel-related industries.

Rivers of Steel National Heritage area includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties. For more information, visit www.riversofsteel.com.

Editor's Note: Written entirely from a press release by Sherris Moreira, director of marketing for Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

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