Pittsburgh's August Wilson Center Appoints Conservator, Struggles to Keep Doors Open in Face of Foreclosure

Pittsburgh's August Wilson Center for African American Culture, founded and constructed for $42 million, has been foreclosed upon and is in the midst of st, according to The New York Times.

Named for Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright and Pittsburgh native August Wilson, the August Wilson Center for African American Culture engages regional and national audiences in its mission of preserving, presenting, interpreting, celebrating and shaping the art, culture and history of African Americans in Western Pennsylvania and people of African descent throughout the world.

The center, now low on donors and patrons, was built upon $36 million from "government and private sources," and the rest through an $11 million loan - but now, as a "victim of mismanagement by its senior staff and board of directors, who borrowed to build a grand palace of culture, but failed to find a wide enough audience and donor base," has been turned over to a conservator, Judith K. Fitzgerald, in order to help find a way to keep the lights on. For now, the theater is rented out on Sunday mornings to a predominantly white "megachurch."

"It's extremely sad," said city councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who represents the Hill District, where the center is located. "I know what August Wilson's name means in terms of history, and I know the impact a national African-American theater can mean to both Pittsburgh and the country."

The holder of the loan Dollar Bank, sued to foreclose in September, according to report - and now, fundraisers and initial investors still hoping for the center to succeed are relying upon Fitzgerald to keep the doors open while the bank "renews its push to liquidate" the institution.

For The New York Times' original article, click here.

Located at 980 Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District, the multidisciplinary August Wilson Center is reflective of all aspects of African American culture. The Center's striking, two-story, green building houses multiple exhibition galleries, a 486-seat theater for performances in all disciplines, an education center, a gift shop, and multipurpose spaces for community programs and events. The Center is among a select few African American cultural institutions presenting visual and performing arts, the humanities and educational programs in a state-of-the-art venue.

Photo Courtesy of August Wilson Center's Facebook Page

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