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Friday, July 25, 2003

By Mike Bucsko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The past seven years had been frustrating for the Rev. Regis Ryan as he tried to find a building for his organization, Focus On Renewal Inc., to use as a cultural arts center in McKees Rocks.

After two earlier failed attempts, Ryan finally succeeded on his third try.

Yesterday, Focus On Renewal closed on a 22,000-square-foot building at 420 Chartiers Ave. that will become the community's cultural center.

Already, Ryan is looking down the road to the work ahead to make the building suitable for cultural classes and activities.

"I'm a little bit relieved, but of course, it's only the beginning of a whole new project," Ryan said.

The building, formerly the Desks Inc. new and used office furniture store, needs an estimated $700,000 worth of improvements to bring it up to building standards for safety and accessibility for people with disabilities.

And then, "if we have any money left," says Ryan, Focus on Renewal can begin to renovate the inside for space to house classrooms for art, drama, literature and other cultural activities, as well as performance space.

"The potential is tremendous and the need, of course, is also tremendous," Ryan said.

Focus On Renewal bought the building for $258,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant proceeds -- money set aside as part of a federal housing discrimination lawsuit settlement for improvements in seven low-income communities, including McKees Rocks.

Focus On Renewal has about $520,000 remaining in its block grant allocation for renovations.

The selling price was substantially less than the $325,000 at which owner Betty Jenkins Vos initially listed the property. But Vos agreed to sell the property for less to Focus On Renewal after an assessment on the building limited the amount the organization could spend.

The reason Vos agreed to sell for less? "It's certainly a very worthy cause," she said.

"You have to give to the community for the community to give back to the people," Vos said.

Her late husband, Peter, bought the building in 1975. Betty Vos decided to sell the building after her husband died last year.

It took about a year for Ryan to close the deal -- a relatively short period of time compared with Ryan's previous tribulations in two previous attempts to buy buildings.

Focus On Renewal was one of the first community organizations to receive a substantial allocation from the Sanders Task Force, a panel established in the 1994 settlement of a federal housing discrimination lawsuit filed in 1988 by residents of the former Talbot Towers public housing complex in Braddock.

Allegheny County, as part of the settlement, is required to set aside 25 percent of its annual block grant allocation for the Sanders case. The money, which amounts to about $29 million, is reserved for improvement projects in seven communities -- Braddock, Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, McKees Rocks, Rankin and Wilkinsburg.

But the $800,000 Focus On Renewal initially was allocated in 1996 was never dispersed because the group was unable to finalize real estate deals.

The first attempt began in 1996 when Focus On Renewal tried to buy an old movie theater in McKees Rocks. That attempt fell through in 1998.

The next was in 1998 when Focus On Renewal tried to buy a building near its main office owned by the Sto-Rox Booster Club. But the deal ended abruptly in the fall of 2001 when the booster club decided at the last minute to sell the property to someone else at a slightly higher price.

Focus On Renewal recently invited members of the community to participate on various committees to plan the future of the new cultural center. There are committees for the building itself, for fund-raising and for the activities that will take place inside.

If all goes as planned, Ryan said he would to open a coffee shop and a store to sell the arts and crafts made in the center.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of interest right now and we hope we can keep it up," he said.