Editorial: A new era for the Carrie Furnace beckons
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Recycling is at its best when it doesn’t just reuse an original item but improves it.
The former Carrie Furnace steelmaking site along the Monongahela River near Braddock is about to be a larger-than-life example of that as it is redeveloped for contemporary commercial use.
The Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority and the Regional Industrial Development Corp. are working on bringing the site back as a blend of flexible technology space, research and development, workforce education and light manufacturing and assembly. In an area where television show and movie crews are becoming more and more commonplace, there is even a place for film production.
It is an opportunity to do exactly what economic development organizations always have as their goal: take the relics of past industry and rework them not just for current needs but future growth. RIDC’s record of successful development over decades should continue here.
The Carrie Blast Furnaces are a National Historic Landmark. The nonprofit Rivers of Steel operates it as an attraction with tours and programs. The redevelopment location is an adjacent 52 acres of former brownfield site situated in Rankin, Swissvale, Munhall and Whitaker.
It does not just rely on what is there. It builds on it literally, with 100,000 square feet of construction planned and room for five times that to be added. The project doesn’t just consider what can be done today. It assumes success and plans for more with another 11 acres available for expansion. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring.
The beauty of a project like this is that it doesn’t shy away from what some would consider a detriment. It doesn’t simply acknowledge the area’s industrial past. It embraces that history with pride.
The Greater Pittsburgh area should never run from its steelmaking heritage. It built the area’s bones. It fed the area’s people. And that is how all redevelopment should be addressed.
Pennsylvania is a state built on steel and coal and glass and brick, and the remnants of those industries are often looked on as blight to be bulldozed to make room for progress. Projects like the Carrie Furnaces illustrate that the best way to revitalize is by recycling the beauty and functionality of what those prior industries left behind.