2022 was a “transformative year’ for the McCandless/Northern Allegheny Heritage and Cultural Center, with plans for 2023 focusing on a possible expansion and establishing partnerships with neighboring municipalities, center Executive Director Abby Lucostic told McCandless Town Council.

She presented a year-end review of the museum and strategic plan for next year to council at its Nov. 28 meeting.

The museum, located off Grubbs Road in McCandless, celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2022, said Lucostic.

“We have been able to make remarkable changes in a short time and see the Heritage Center as a developing regional asset in our community,” she said.

Events at the center and donations raised more than $59,230. The center also received more than $43,567 through in-kind donations, she said.

The center is a 4,200-square-foot replica of a one-room schoolhouse dedicated as a place for displaying artifacts and memorabilia and hosting exhibitions. It’s owned by the Town of McCandless and is coordinated by the McCandless public information officer and managed by the center’s Financial Development and Promotional Committee, which town council established to promote and develop the center.

McCandless provides funding that pays for some of the center’s costs.

Lucostic said the center achieved nonprofit status and obtained a Small Games of Chance license through Allegheny County, which helped it raise money through raffles and 50-50s.

Lucostic said giving the center a more regional focus will open doors for more funding from the county, state and federal levels. The Financial Development and Promotional Committee offers regular programs and hosts fundraising events to build a reserve and offset operating expenses, she said.

The heritage center is largely staffed by volunteers, with more than 2,200 hours logged in this year so far.

“Most important part of the HCC is certainly our volunteers and the topic most near and dear to my heart,” said Lucostic.

More than 1,980 people to attend heritage center events this past year, an increase of 296 percent compared to pandemic- hampered 2021. The center held 23 presentations and exhibits and participated in all town-sanctioned events, according to Lucostic.

HCC-sponsored events included a History at Ross Park Mall in July, Friends of North Park photography exhibit and Notorious North Hills both in October, and storytime at Winterfest.

At its inception, the center housed items from North Allegheny School District and a collection of the local, late historian Joe Bullick. Two paintings of Judge William McCandless from the 1800s were gifted to the center from a descendant of the McCandless family.

A more regional focus led to a collaboration with the West View Historical Society and West View Borough for long-term loans of memorabilia of the former West View Park, a well-known attraction that closed in 1977, and of the former West View High School.

The museum also had a display table at the Historic Pittsburgh Fair at the Carnegie Library in Oakland in September. The center intends to continue working with local libraries and historical societies, Lucostic said.

Plans to partner with nearby communities will enable the center to serve more of the North Hills Region and help in funding an expansion. There have been early talks with neighboring municipalities about having a presence on the center’s advisory board.

“We’re trying to turn this into something that is bigger, that is something to grow. We are going to try to make this the best it can be,” said Joe Wall, vice chair of the Financial Development and Promotional Committee.

He said this will pursued through intergovernmental grants and partnerships with other municipalities.

McCandless would still own the facility, but operational and capital expenditures would be “garnered” from a proposed $1 per person fee from each municipality, resulting in estimated revenue of $185,000 annually. The municipalities would have their own space for exhibitions or artifacts, Lucostic said.

A group of stakeholders, volunteers and committee members met for five-working sessions over the summer to outline goals for the next three to five years that include significant increases in attendance, activities, and fundraising.

An outdoor, mobile tent was added for outdoor classroom experiences or other activities. Plans include an adding an outdoor classroom/display area; more outdoor lighting and signs, and the physical expansion of the center.

Adding space would provide for possible performance art, rental opportunities and more educational space. The center should also be more reflective of the changing diversity of the area.

The center will be open Tuesday through Sunday and one night on Thursdays in 2023.

The center is holding its annual appeal where a donation form can be accessed at www.townofmmcandless.org.

To donate items or memorabilia, email heritagecenter@townofmccandless.org.

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