Hundreds of jobs, big plans at New Kensington's Schreiber Industrial Park

The only thing that's stayed the same about New Kensington's Schreiber Industrial Park is change, and more is coming.

The city is set to buy the industrial park in a bid to make it a center for manufacturing and return some of the jobs it used to provide to residents.

The park, the lion's share of the riverfront property in New Kensington and Arnold, is home to about a dozen businesses.

Siemens, one of the largest tenants, is leaving later this year, but other businesses express a mix of excitement and hope about the park's future.

Beacon Roofing Supply Branch Manager Carl Siwak said his company has had a facility there since 2007.

A New Kensington native, Siwak said he knows the city has been after the park for a long time, and he thinks it's a sign of good things to come.

"We're hoping to continue growing with the area, so it's actually good news," he said. "They can maybe move some stuff into here, too."

Siwak said he remembers when New Kensington was a bustling city, filled with shops and flush with work. Now, he said he sees a lot of empty buildings at Schreiber.

"It'd be nice to see it really come back," he said.

Back to the beginning

At the start, the park was just home to Alcoa.

According to the company's own history, the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, as the manufacturing giant was then called, had outgrown its space on Smallman Street in Pittsburgh. The company that gave New Kensington its "Aluminum City" moniker bought a few acres along the Allegheny River in 1891.

Alcoa's aluminum business boomed through World War II, bringing more than 7,000 jobs to the city. But the war ended, and so did the boom. Alcoa, their facilities in New Kensington already old by the end of the war, built modern plants elsewhere. Production at the New Kensington Works, and the jobs that went with it, fell away continuously through the next decades.

As the jobs trickled away, New Kensington's population fell, too. According to census data, in 1950 there were more than 25,000 people living in the city. By 1980, it was down to fewer than 18,000. Census estimates put the current population at about 12,500.

Alcoa never left the area entirely and maintains a technology center in nearby Upper Burrell. Early in 1970, though, the company announced the closure of the New Kensington Works.

In 1971, David Schreiber's family bought the park, by then grown to 66 acres stretching between Ninth Street in New Kensington and 16th Street in neighboring Arnold. Not long after Alcoa's planned departure, Schreiber said, his family began to market the properties as the Schreiber Industrial Park.

Schreiber, a managing partner of Schreiber Industrial Development Company, said German technology powerhouse Siemens came next, signing their first lease in 1974.

However, he said that's about to change as well; they're leaving at the end of September.

A spokesperson for Siemens said the company is building a new facility near Mt. Pleasant, at the Westmoreland RIDC park, where they will "co-locate two existing operations."

Perfect timing

Schreiber, too, is looking for a change. He's not sentimental about the park, and he said he's got a good reason to let it go.

"That's really simple. I'm 84 years old and there's no one really to follow up when I retire."

New Kensington will take ownership of the park. After decades of trying to make it happen, the city has finally found Schreiber amicable to selling and the money to buy available.

"We've been trying to get that property off and on for years," New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo said. "There was a willingness to sell, and the opportunity to get the Business in Our Sites grant made it possible."

A $4 million grant and $8 million loan through the state Department of Community and Economic Development's Business in Our Sites program, will allow the city to acquire and change the park, once again, into what state Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, called a "center for advanced manufacturing."

"We have worked hard to come up with a plan that will enable the city and our citizens to leverage the city's long history of innovation to become a new center of advanced technology," Dermody said when the purchase was announced.

Next steps

John N. Ward, solicitor for the city's redevelopment authority, said the official purchase of the property should occur before June 30. Neither the city nor Schreiber has disclosed the purchase price, although that will become public information when title to the land is transferred.

The purchase comes just as the city is working to improve its infrastructure and develop a so-called "smart city" through other state grant programs. According to DCED, the purchase of Schreiber will bring in about 400 jobs to start, but the city has bigger plans.

"We look at this as a great opportunity to add to the existing tenant list, to bring companies back to this facility and we look at it as being a tremendous economic development step by the city," Ward said.

Lloyd Snell, co-owner of car wash soap manufacturer Annford, said it's time for something to happen at the park, where his company has been for about 20 years.

"The place hasn't expanded — it's kind of aged over 20 years," he said. "Now that the city has got it, there's hope that they will revitalize it. The possibilities are unlimited. It will be nice to see something positive come of it."

Snell said his company isn't going anywhere, and other companies would be smart to join his in the park.

"It was built for Alcoa," he said. "It's built as an industrial park, so it has all the amenities, it has the location — it's perfect. I would think that, if you could get manufacturing in here, that would be great. Anything would be great, actually, it doesn't really matter."

Stephen Negrich is the owner of Mineral Processing Specialties, which makes metal alloys for industrial applications at its location in the park. He said he's looking forward to seeing the change he's expecting will come.

"It's got to move on. You can't keep leaving it here. It's been years since it's been full. Siemens is leaving. You got to do something with it," he said.

"To hear the stories of what New Ken used to be and what it is — it's sad to see where it's at right now. For them to at least try to put some effort to clean it up, make it back to where it's safe to walk through town at night, it's good to hear."

Matthew Medsger and Madasyn Czebiniak are Tribune-Review staff writers. Reach Medsger at 724-226-4675, mmedsger@tribweb.com or via Twitter @matthew_medsger. Reach Czebiniak at 724-226-4702, mczebiniak@tribweb.com or via Twitter @maddyczebstrib.