Penguins give part of Lower Hill development site to Bethel AME Church decades after it was displaced by arena project

More than six decades after its church was displaced to clear the way for construction of the former Civic Arena, Bethel AME Church will once again get land in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District.

The church is set to develop a 1.5-acre site at the corner of Crawford and Bedford avenues, which is owned by the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. The Pittsburgh Penguins had development rights for the site, but chose to give it instead to the church.

“Our goal is to create a positive ecosystem for African Americans within a sustainable mixed-use development with residential and commercial purposes,” said the Rev. Dale Snyder, pastor of Bethel AME Church.

He outlined plans for a state-of-the-art day care center and between 280 and 350 apartments. Plans for additional commercial space or a worship center haven’t been finalized, Snyder said.

The site, which is larger than a football field, is now being used as a parking lot.

Snyder said the deal is an example of restorative justice that he hopes can be imitated around the country.

Bethel AME — a congregation that dates to 1808 and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad — saw its church building demolished in 1955 to make way for construction of the Civic Arena and Interstate 579. While the church was valued at more than $745,000, the URA paid out $240,000, according to church leaders. The church served a 3,000-member congregation at the time.

Now, local officials and church leaders said they’re working for justice for Bethel AME.

“Bethel wanted justice related to the eminent domain actions of the 1950s,” said Craig Dunham, senior vice president of development for the Penguins. “We are pleased to make land available in this block and to support their efforts.”

He noted that officials in November 2021 dedicated Frankie Pace Park over I-579, which reconnected the Hill District with Downtown Pittsburgh. Pace was a member of the Bethel AME congregation.

“We are here today, right now to talk about reclaiming something that was taken,” Mayor Ed Gainey said Friday during a news conference near the site. “Let this be an example of what we as a people can do when we come together to make this a safe city, to make it a city that is welcoming, a city that is thriving.”

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the move was an effort “to try to right some wrongs.”

“When you think about the folks that were displaced, the institutions that were displaced, the businesses that were displaced and Bethel AME was displaced — it had a rippling effect for many, many years,” Fitzgerald said.

Snyder credited the Penguins for “making the first giant step” in restoring a community that was torn apart by the I-579 and Civic Arena projects.

“They’re our heroes,” he said of the Penguins organization. “They’re our champions.”

Snyder called on the local philanthropic community and all levels of government to support their efforts. He said the church already had funding secured to launch the project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 million.

He said the church hopes to have housing for people at low-to-moderate income levels, as well as other services that would improve the community.

The goal is for the development to create a profit for the church.

“We want our children’s children to have funds in Bethel,” Snyder said.

He said he could not yet offer a timeline on construction and declined to name the potential development company until their agreement is finalized.

The piece of land that Bethel AME is set to develop is not where the former church had been located. Snyder said that piece of land was “not large enough” for the development church leaders had in mind.

The land is part of the 28-acre site the Pittsburgh Penguins are developing.

Construction is ongoing for the new First National Bank Tower on a portion of the site. The Penguins and their development partners are seeking approval for a LiveNation concert venue that also would include a public safety center and commercial space.