Construction and renovation of the Historic New Granada Theater at the University of Pittsburgh has begun. The Hill Community Development Corporation held a ceremony to mark the start of the project which will be carried out in phases.
The initial phase, the cost of which is $36 million, involves the development of the historic New Granada building and surrounding retail spaces. Apartments, performance spaces, shops, dining establishments, and 40 affordable office spaces are all part of the development and refurbishment project.
Plans for the New Granada Theater at the University of Pittsburgh
Pitt’s Hill District Community Engagement Center (CEC), which is presently housed in the Blakey Program Center, will move into the New Granada building in the future. By adding this new area, the CEC’s size will increase to 20,000 square feet.
The new facility will include a STEAM studio. It will offer programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Furthermore, with regard to the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics, the School of Social Work, jazz studies, and computer literacy initiatives, the University will act as an anchor tenant and provide classes, offices, additional spaces, and programs.
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The theatre’s history as a centre of the city’s jazz culture during the 1930s and 1940s is extensive. Additionally, jazz greats have performed there including Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong. There was a movie premiere for actor Mickey Rooney, and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower ran for office there.
A cultural legacy not just for Pittsburgh but the entire nation
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher expressed his gratitude for the project to the Hill District’s inhabitants, organizations, and community leaders at the groundbreaking. Pitt is pleased to have contributed to the rehabilitation of a cherished and historic local landmark, he added.
Gallagher declared, “This is one of the great cultural legacies not just of Pittsburgh, but of our nation.” And they shouldn’t be contained in a box and viewed from a distance. A true legacy serves as a cornerstone upon which the future is constructed. That’s what we’re doing, in my opinion, on the Hill.
