McKeesport, Pennsylvania

MCKEESPORT , PENNSYLVANI A on our doors, as well.” In the downtown area, stands the historic Daily News building, where the local newspaper was housed for over 125 years. It shut down in 2015, and the city has since been able to secure that building from Total Media at no cost. There are now several tenants in the building – the District Attorney’s office, two media outlets, Point Park College, New Century Careers – and the repurposing is spurring a lot of other activity in the downtown, which has been pretty quiet for many years. Next to the Daily News, a parking garage that’s been closed for 15 years is being remediated. About 50 yards from that is a transportation center, where the Port Authority of Allegheny County is investing millions, so people will have access to it. Across the street from the Daily News building is an 8-story, vacant building that the city recently attained through the Redevelopment Authority. It’s being renovated by a developer and they’re already lining up tenants for the first two floors. Two hundred yards from that, a new commercial structure is going up on a long-time vacant lot, with a major bank as the anchor tenant. Another hundred yards away, still in the downtown, are McKee’s Point, the Marina, the McKeesport Palisades Event Center that holds 600 people, along with a bike trail that runs through that area. And the historic Penn-McKee Hotel is slated for restoration. The hotel is best known for hosting a debate between future presidents, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, in 1947. Cherepko reports, “In the Cultural and Educational sector of the city, we were able to take down some of the blighted houses and now we’re partnering with Project Pittsburgh and Rebuild Pittsburgh to start renovating others and keep them on the tax rolls to encourage home ownership for the future of the city. There’s a lot of activity in the recreational side of things, too. We have our 200- acre Renziehausen (Renzie) Park that we continue to upgrade with rental pavilions, a hockey facility, tennis and basketball courts, an indoor social hall,