PITTSBURGH — A boarded-up building with a crumbling façade in Homewood could be turned into a community haven equipped with a skating rink and bowling alley.
That was one man’s vision for the empty Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum, but those plans may have to wait.
“I love my community. It is a diamond in the rough,” said Rico Rucker Sr.
Rucker said the boarded-up windows and the empty parking lot are nothing like when he grew up in Homewood. He can still remember the skating rink, cabarets and bingo nights hosted at the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum.
“Homewood was a thriving business district back in the day,” Rucker said.
That’s why, more than a year ago, he submitted a proposal to the Urban Redevelopment Authority to restore it.
“It would be a game-changer. It would literally unite our community and bring us all together,” Rucker said.
His vision is simple: to bring back the skating rink and the bowling alley, then let the community do the rest.
“We did start a petition. With the petition we have over 800 signatures, and when the URA did their survey, out (of) 330, 264 favored the coliseum,” Rucker said.
Unfortunately for Rucker and community supporters, that vision is now on hold.
“In the letter they sent me, it said that they were starting the process over due to the RFI process being insufficient,” Rucker said.
After a more than year-long search and announcing Rucker’s proposal to restore the coliseum as one of two finalists months ago, the URA restarted the entire bidding process.
“When it first happened, we weren’t there. We listened to the community when we came in, and we have a better understanding of what the community wants,” a spokesperson for the URA said.
Rucker said he isn’t giving up.
“It’s kind of a blessing in disguise, we are first in line,” Rucker said.
The URA had no comment and has not yet reopened the bidding process.
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