St. George Church Preservation Society News & Archives

By Katherine Schaeffer Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, 10:10 p.m. Customers trickle into Black Forge Coffee House, just off the corner of Arlington and East Warrington avenues in Pittsburgh's Allentown neighborhood, clamoring for a morning caffeine fix. Black Forge's menu is loaded with local fare: specialty drinks made from Zeke's Coffee beans, mugs of Gryphon's Tea and pastries from ThreeFifty Bakery. With a wooden stage for musicians, comedians and poets, Black Forge is a novel space in the neighborhood. “We wanted to create a space for artists and musicians,” co-owner Nick Miller said of the shop, which opened Aug. 3. “It's filling a gap in the city. There aren't a lot of all-ages venues that are open all the time, and not just for events.” Co-owners Miller and Ashley Corts are among the first recipients of one-year rent abatement and lighting and signage grants available to new Warrington Avenue business owners, which they say helped get their business started, along...

$1.5M tax credit development plan OK'd to revitalize Allentown By Sam Spatter Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, 12:01 a.m. A $1.5 million tax credit development plan could spur growth in Pittsburgh's Allentown neighborhood, officials said Monday. The six-year plan, with funding from PNC Bank, Dollar Bank and UPMC Health Plan, utilizes the state's tax credit Neighborhood Assistance Program, which allows corporate sponsors to acquire tax credits for money they spend on development. It will provide home-owners assistance to improve properties, and neighborhood advocates hope it will entice businesses to move into the East Warrington Avenue business district. “The Hilltop Alliance will manage the program, which will also support a fresh foods initiative for residents, a neighborhood employment center and children's education programs,” said Aaron Sukenik, the nonprofit neighborhood group's executive director. The program's partners will collaborate with the Allentown Communit...

Allentown gets $1.5 million over 6 years for community improvements November 10, 2014 12:00 AM By Diana Nelson Jones / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Hilltop Alliance has secured $1.5 million over six years to pump into Allentown, one of a dozen southern neighborhoods under the alliance’s umbrella. PNC Bank, Dollar Bank and the UPMC Health Plan are providing the money and will reap tax credits through the state’s Neighborhood Partnership Program. The money will come in $250,000 increments for improvements to East Warrington Avenue, the main businesses corridor, to help homeowners stabilize and repair properties, to enhance social services and to expand a fresh produce distribution program the alliance operates with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “We’ve never had dedicated funding for that [produce distribution], so this ensures its continuation and a dramatic expansion,” said Aaron Sukenik, executive director of the Hilltop Alliance. Allentown is immediately south of Grandvie...

Our First donation to Saint George Church Preservation Society was a very generous gift from Helen Baney, a lifelong Parishioner of St. George Church. Helen has a very long history of being very actively involved at St. George Church, and in various organizations in the Allentown Community. Thank you Helen for your encouragement at a challenging time, and for your generosity.