There can be no doubt about it: New Kensington isn't what it used to be.
The businesses that once crowded downtown are gone, the many theaters closed or repurposed, and the streets, once lined with cars, are mostly empty even during what should be a busy weekday lunch hour.
Indeed, "Little Chicago," as it was once known, has suffered the fate of so many small cities, and a declining population and urban blight are symptoms of the post-industrial world that New Kensington must navigate.
There are those who remember, though, when the streets and buildings of New Kensington were bustling and the population booming.
There are even those who are working to preserve the memory of a city they never knew, but heard about in stories.
Aaron Sluka, 21, of New Kensington, is one of them.
Sluka is a photographer with training in architecture. A city native, Sluka said he has often heard of the city at its height, but that he has only ever known it as it is now.
But, when Sluka looks at New Kensington through the lens of his camera, he doesn't just see blight and empty buildings, he sees what the city used to be and what it could be again.
"I was born and raised in New Kensington and everyone always told me stories about what it used to be and what it used to look like," he said.
"My photography has always been of abandoned places, and New Kensington looks like an abandoned place. It's like everyone picked up and left, but the buildings they built remain."
Sluka isn't wrong: for the most part people did pick up and leave. Census records show a steady decline in the city's population since it reached a high of just over 25,000 in 1950. As of 2010 there were barely 13,000 living in the city.
Sluka manages to capture this decline in his still photography. He juxtaposes his own work with historical photographs of New Kensington's architecture.
The effect is striking. The first thing that stands out in comparison are the people: in the old photos the streets are packed with pedestrians. In the new pictures they are empty.
"Almost every building here is vacant," Sluka said of 5th Avenue, where he has found several buildings worth capturing. "It used to busy, there used to be cars lining this entire street during the day."
Some of Sluka's most viewed photos center around the abandoned Dattola Theater on 5th Avenue. The theatre hasn't been in operation since 1985, a full decade before Sluka was born. Despite its dilapidated state, for Sluka, the theater harkens to a time when New Kensington was full of life.
"It's really sad what happened to New Kensington, but if I could do anything in this city, it would be to fix 5th Avenue, to restore it to its former glory," he said. Sluka pointed out four other theatres besides the Dattola, also shut down and also in poor repair. Sluka said he hopes that the culture they used to represent and showcase can come back.
"My whole plan is to show everybody these buildings, show them what they used to be, and let them see where things are now. Hopefully, we can get people to think about where the city could go from here."
Bill Hall, president of the New Kensington Arts Center, praised Sluka's dedication to his art and his city.
"His work is great but he's even better. He carries a lot of enthusiasm and, along with that, a desire to participate. You don't let anyone go whose got that," Hall said.
Sluka, who started in photography just two years ago, said the hardest part of his work is the research. Sluka doesn't just take pictures of the buildings, he also investigates them to find out what their story is.
"There are a couple good websites, but otherwise my resources are limited. The librarian told me they didn't have archives and that a lot of the history was gone," he said.
Not all of the history is completely gone — the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Society does what they can to preserve it, according to president Jim Thomas. Thomas said he has seen the work Sluka is doing, and he is pleased to see conservation efforts spreading to a younger generation.
"All our local towns have history that people should be aware of. Almost everything is gone from that downtown area, but we try to preserve buildings whenever possible, and preserve the memory of them, of course. I've seen the pictures and I like what that young man is doing," Thomas said.
Sluka said that he hopes to continue capturing old, abandoned structures with his photography, but he also hopes to bring attention to the arts center on 5th Avenue.
Matthew Medsger is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4675, mmedsger@tribweb.com, or on Twitter @matthew_medsger.
