PITTSBURGH (AP) — A bold attempt to create a world-class African-American cultural center in Pittsburgh is collapsing, but local leaders are exploring new options even as they consider why the project failed.
The August Wilson Center opened to great fanfare in 2009 after a broad range of public and private institutions pitched in to raise tens of millions of dollars and construct a new 65,000-square-foot building. It was a heady time for followers of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, who grew up in Pittsburgh and died in 2005. He is best known for his 10-play cycle that chronicles black life in America, and a Broadway theater is named after him in New York City. Many hoped the Pittsburgh center would become another star in the transformation of the city formerly known for its steel mills.
