Historic Land-Use Accord: The Unprecedented Agreement Between Black Church & NHL’s Penguins

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Many years ago, a famous Black Church had to sell its building for much less than it was worth in order to make way for a city construction project that destroyed an African American neighborhood called the Hill District.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is getting a new spot near its old home. They made a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins to use an area that’s 1 and a half acres big – the church plans on building houses and other buildings for income there.

Bishop Errenous McLoud Jr. said he had never been a hockey fan, However, on Friday he thanked the Penguins during a special news conference before a worship service at Bethel. He also mentioned that this agreement between them could possibly be an example for other reparations around the world.

The church had been asking the government, businesses, and sports teams for a long time to do something for the people in the 1950s project. After years of demands, an agreement was finally made. The Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team did not start playing until 1967 in two different stadiums located near its original neighborhood.

The Penguins’ president of business operations, Kevin Acklin said that the team realizes their responsibility to take care of the property as well as its legacy. Even though mistakes from long ago can’t be changed anymore, we can still work today for a better future and to help with restorative justice.

He wants the deal and bigger moves to change the area to act as an example for other cities in USA that have been hurt by bad city planning from the 1950s.

He said, “We have the chance to do something good with a group of people and a church that is trying to make things better!”

The Hill District is a neighborhood located close to downtown Pittsburgh. During the 20th century it became famous for its jazz clubs and entertainment – some of which were featured in plays written by August Wilson, a well-known playwright.

Bethel AME was an important part of the local community. It’s believed to be the oldest church in Pittsburgh for African-American people and since its creation in 1808, it has worked hard to help with education and civic rights. In 1906 a big brick church was built in the Lower Hill District which had strong arched windows and a tall tower. At one point, it had over 3,000 members!

Back in the 1950s, the authorities of Pittsburgh decided that an area called “Lower Hill” was in bad shape. As a result, they took down around 1,300 buildings (that covered 95 acres) and forced out more than 8,000 people along with 400 businesses and a few religious places. What’s interesting is that they didn’t try to tear down a Catholic church even though it was filled mostly with white people.

The Bethel church leaders were unable to stop the demolishing process so instead, they were given $240,000 as compensation which was quite low compared to the original value of the land ($745,000).

A highway, a sports arena and some new homes were built through the old neighborhood. But other projects that were planned never actually happened.

This made for an area split between downtown and the remaining part of the Hill District. This area is still dealing with economic problems.

At first, the Penguins played in a very old stadium and when it got torn down, they moved to a newer one nearby. Through some agreements with the government, they have certain rights to use 28 acres of land of the previous stadium. There is now a 26-story tall building going up and there’s even an urban park that has just been opened with some other projects currently being planned.

Bethel Methodist Church now worships in a modern and smaller sanctuary at the Hill District. There is stained glass window with illustrations of stories from the Bible, like Richard Allen – one of the important founders of African Methodist Episcopal (AME).

On Friday, Bishop Kurt Kusserow from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America paid a visit to Bethel. The two had formed a connection thanks to an event that happened back in 2015 when nine church goers at Mother Emanuel AME Church were murdered in a hate crime.

After ELCA leaders found out that the person behind doing something wrong was a member of one of their churches, they asked people in their group (which was mostly made up of white folks) to form a connection with AME churches.

Kusserow stated, “We’ve become more aware of how white people are privileged in our country and so it is our job to use this privilege in whatever way possible to help what the AME church suggests they need to move forward, such as offering reparations.”

The pastor at Bethel church, Rev. Dale Snyder, announced that the church is planning on having a housing center and daycare for children along with some other businesses too. He said that this plan would help to make things better across America.

Rev. Prudence Harris who has been part of Bethel since she was five, remembered when the old sanctuary building was demolished which made her mother cry but Prudence believes her mother is happy now looking down from the sky.

The city and the county have been trying to work together with people from the Hill District in order to better link it back to downtown. This includes buying a new 1.5-acre property which is bigger than what Bethel owned before, which was around 13,000 square-feet. This plan that was created in 2014 involves all of these groups coming together for the benefit of the Hill District community.

Marimba Milliones, president of the Hill Community Development Corp., wants to make sure that the new developments in her neighborhood will be good for everyone. She said that if we want to solve a problem from the past, we have to help out everyone in the same area. Her project is being sponsored by Lilly Endowment Inc. and The Conversation US.