Forty members from the Society for Industrial Archeology wanted to see firsthand the history behind how the 67-year-old building made the transformation from a Navy World War II ammunition plant.
"We are really happy that they chose to visit our site, and we take a lot of pride in being housed in this historic building," GalvTech operations leader Paul Mula said Thursday. "We helped bring steel back to this area, and I am glad we have the opportunity to show that to them."
The society, which is holding its national convention in Pittsburgh this week, is a nonprofit organization formed in 1971 that promotes the study, appreciation and preservation of historic industrial sites, structures, artifacts and technology.
Members come from a variety of professions and include architects, archaeologists, engineers, industrialists, teachers and students.
Society spokesman Patrick Martin, an archaeology professor at Michigan Technological University, said the group came to Pittsburgh to better understand its steel heritage.
"Pittsburgh is a great place to study the industrial industry," Martin said. "The more people know the history here, the more they appreciate it, and the more they will likely support efforts that go with understanding and possibly preserving it."
The organization publishes a semi-annual journal, a quarterly newsletter and posts industrial news and building preservation projects on its Web site, www.siahq.org.
Members gather every year for a spring conference, last held in Pittsburgh in 1993, where members tour industrial sites to better understand industrial trends and history.
Christopher Marston, an architect for the National Park Service in Washington, said some members have worked on local projects such as the preservation of Homestead's Pump House, the last 19th century building remaining at the site where the 1892 Battle of Homestead took place.
As a former Pittsburgh resident, he said he liked seeing what the city has done to keep the heritage here alive.
"I think the rail-trail movement here is really cool, where you can still see all those rusty old rail beds along the river," Marston said. "I like to come back and see what is left of the industry and hopefully be a catalyst for preservation for some of this stuff."
He said members have documented industrial buildings in McKeesport, Duquesne and Johnstown.
The GalvTech facility was a key military ammunition plant in the early 1940s because of its location along the Monongahela River and quick access to nearby rail transportation.
The GalvTech tour was just one of many planned during the convention. GalvTech, which starting leasing the building in 1996, specializes in the galvanizing of flat-rolled sheets of steel used for nonautomotive applications in the commercial construction and consumer goods market.
By Ken Fibbe
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday May 28, 2009,
7:30 p.m.
Valley Town (1940). Black & White. 27 minutes. Director: Willard Van Dyke
This social documentary that premiered at the Steel Workers’ Organizing Committee’s convention in Chicago in May 1940 portrays life in New Castle, Pa., during the Great Depression. Unemployment and poverty transformed the town and its people as automation made its impact in the steel industry. Because of what was considered an anticorporate view, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which funded the film, withdrew it from release and redid the film. Two very different versions, the original director’s cut and the remake, exist.
This half-hour documentary, part of the PBS “Great Depression” program series, tells the dramatic story of the struggle at J&L Steel that led to the famous Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Wagner Act. After the win at Aliquippa extended the union beyond U.S. Steel surrendering without a shot in secret negotiations between John L. Lewis and Myron Taylor, the steelworkers’ union hit up against Tom Girdler’s extreme resistance. The Memorial Day massacre of 1937, just weeks after the victory at Aliquippa, kept the unions inside “Little Steel” without a contract until 1941.
Battle of Homestead Foundation
West Mifflin Area High School/Auditorium Monday, May 11th, 2009
7:00-9:00PM
Sponsored by:
Topics include:
- Law Enforcement Efforts
- Physiology of D&A Use, Addition as a disease, Warning signs
- Types of drugs in communities – how to identify drugs
- Intervention Techniques – What could one do to help prevent people from starting; what could be done to help people stop using drugs
- What can a community do to combat drug/substance abuse
- What resources are available to help substance abusers
- Personal Testimonies – Person in recovery willing to share experiences to help others
Moderator: Patricia Valentine,
Point of contact: SMSgt DiCerbo, 412-896-0789
Email: dicerboo@wmasd.org
Youth Crime Watch President: Leo Agafanov
SADD President: Jessica Kostelnik
Resource Advisors/Tables include: Allegheny County Dept of Human Services, Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services, Familylinks, Mercy Behavior Health, Mon-Yough Community Service MH/MR, Turtle Creek Valley MH/MR Program, Alateen, Al Anon, Gateway, Greenbriar Treatment Center
Registration
Registration is being held Saturday, May 9 and May 16, 2009 from noon - 3:00 PM and Saturday, May 30 from noon to 2 PM at Barret Elementary School. Participants must bring copies of the following three items for us to keep, otherwise they will not be able to play:
Best of the Batch Foundation
2000 West Street
Munhall, PA 15120
Location
Games are held at the Charlie Batch 16th Avenue Playground in Homestead, PA, weather permitting. If rain is in the forecast, games will take place at Barrett Elementary School in Homestead.
Practice Schedule Tournament Dates and Times Championship Day Check our event calendar for future game dates and information. 
The official tournament begins June 10 at 5:30 PM.
Saturday, July 25 from 4:00 PM - ???
