A 39,000-pound piece of Alcoa history is coming to New Kensington.

A retired aluminum smelting pot that has been displayed near the Gateway Clipper ramp at Station Square since 1990 will be placed in the beer garden outside Voodoo Brewery at Fifth Avenue and 10th Street.

“We are in the process of donating the aluminum smelter and glad it will be in a location suitable for its long-term preservation and display,” said Andrew Brent, spokesman for Station Square owner Brookfield Properties, which acquired former owner Forest City Realty Trust in 2018.

Brent did not say why Brookfield wanted the smelter removed from Station Square.

Brewery owner Michael Malcanas said he expects to have the artifact in place before the end of the year, after footers are built for it to sit upon. He envisions having it lit up, with seating around it for brewery patrons, and using dry ice to make the smelter look like it’s in use.

“I was stunned at the enormity of it,” Malcanas said. “It’s going to look massive.”

The smelting pot, a “P-75,” had been used at an Alcoa plant outside of Massena, N.Y., from 1958 to 1985. It was part of a potline that was retired in 1985, said Kevin Kitzman, president of the nonprofit National Aluminum Production Heritage Association in Massena.

The association’s mission includes preserving items such as the smelter. Kitzman said it advocated to find a new home for it, and received funding from private donations to pay for the move to New Kensington.

The electrical smelter is 26 feet long, 13 feet high and 11 feet wide. Alcoa now uses a larger version called the P-225 smelting pot, Kitzman said.

“Although the core chemistry still relies on Charles Martin Hall’s invention, the smelting pots themselves have been advancing to become larger and more efficient,” he said. “This research would undoubtedly have come from the former Alcoa Research Labs in New Kensington.”

Alcoa donated the smelting pot to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. It was one of the major artifacts secured for display on the Riverside Industrial History Walk along the Station Square riverfront.

The walk was part of the unrealized River Plaza Development, which was to be the park component of the expansion of Station Square in 1990, said Frank Stroker, director of historical resources and collections with the foundation.

The smelting pot was delivered to Pittsburgh in August 1990. Mayor Sophie Masloff participated in its dedication ceremony in March 1991.

“We’re pleased that it has found a reasonable home with a connection to Alcoa,” Stroker said.

Kitzman said they had considered bringing the smelting pot back to Massena, but that was not possible because of the cost involved in moving it.

“When that proved infeasible, we looked for another owner in the Pittsburgh region,” he said, adding that they spent more than a year looking for a suitable place.

“As we were searching for that year, we just went from contact to contact and eventually we got in contact with” Malcanas, Kitzman said. “They jumped at the chance.”

New Kensington had been home to one of Alcoa’s main production facilities and its research headquarters. The city still strongly identifies with the company.

“The most important thing is that it is appropriately going to end up in New Kensington. We are the Aluminum City,” Mayor Tom Guzzo said. “I’m glad that Mike will be able to utilize it at Voodoo. It’s going to be really neat.”

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