Old Millvale church to rock with sounds of new bands

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Old Millvale church to rock with sounds of new bands

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

By Rick Nowlin, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

What once was a temple to the Creator soon will be a temple for the creative, as the owners of Mr. Small's Funhouse, a recording studio in Millvale, work to turn the former St. Ann Church into a combination theater and studio.

Mike Speranzo of Friendship and Peter Beckerman of Park Place see their efforts contributing to an upswing in the borough, and they hope it will have an even greater impact by drawing artists of all types to the area.

"We're links in the chain that pulls Millvale up," said Speranzo, chairman of the design committee for the borough's Main Street program.

The new facility will include two recording studios, four rehearsal rooms, photography and art studios, a musical instrument digital interface preproduction suite, another studio for writing musical arrangements and rooms where musicians, producers and promoters can sleep, if necessary.

The centerpiece will be a 700-seat theater in what used to be the sanctuary. The theater will be served by several bars, which might spark the nightlife that some residents say Millvale lacks.

Speranzo and Beckerman said the showcase will be geared to rising new bands -- much the way Graffiti in Oakland was -- but will offer them the whole range of services they need.

They also said they know of no other place in the country that offers quite what they will to developing bands.

The concept didn't start out so grand, but it blossomed as people kept feeding new ideas to Speranzo and Beckerman. "It was just a one-up situation," Speranzo said.

The $1.5 million project started in August when Speranzo, Beckerman and Speranzo's wife, Liz Berlin -- a member of the band Rusted Root -- drew up a prospectus for the project to shop around for funding.

They bought the church on Lincoln Avenue from the borough three months ago for $85,000 and are painting and doing other light renovation work. Heavy construction on the stage and new balconies has yet to begin. They're looking to open in September.

Speranzo said the project drew grants from the borough, Allegheny County and the federal Small Business Association, with the remainder paid through a bank loan. The financial details are expected to be worked out by the end of May. "We'd hoped for the end of this month, but we hit a snag on the appraisal," he said.

Though the project has been progressing smoothly, "it's not fast enough for me," Speranzo said. "In dealing with government, everyone has to be on the same page."

In addition to conventional recording, the studio will offer bands a deal to record live performances in the theater for relatively low rates. They also envision live radio broadcasts and concert promos for national artists playing Pittsburgh.

The quality should be as good as bands would find just about anywhere, the owners said. "We're outfitting a room that's well equipped," Speranzo said. "There's nothing [in this part of the country] that's at a higher level."

"It's not like you have to call in another truck [to house additional sound equipment]," Beckerman added.

Recent visitors to the current studio included vocalists Johnny and Donnie Van Zant, who were trying to connect with blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd to do a track for an upcoming album. The three happened to be performing in Pittsburgh at the same time a few months ago, so they did the recording at the Funhouse.

Speranzo and Beckerman considered that a coup. Rusted Root, which is based in Pittsburgh, records at Mr. Small's, but "it's not very normal for international artists to come to Millvale to record," Beckerman said.

With the new digs, they hope to change that.

They also hope the news digs change the neighborhood. Beckerman and Speranzo speculate that Millvale could be attractive to full-time artists of various kinds seeking affordable housing and a vibrant atmosphere.

Part of their project includes renovating the school on the grounds of the former church to use as housing specifically geared for artists.

Speranzo said he envisioned two-day arts festivals and open houses for the schoolhouse.

"We've talked about wanting to provide outlets for artistic individuals, to display their artistic output, perhaps during Millvale Days," Beckerman said. "We feel that's a good way to go about it."

And what about the current studio on Grant Avenue? "We've been talking with some bands that can afford it for a rehearsal space," said Beckerman, "but we don't know if that's going to happen yet."

Speranzo and he said they are grateful to the political leadership for giving them this business opportunity.

"We wouldn't be able to do it without the borough of Millvale," Speranzo said.