Multiple Westmoreland communities say convention center would be a good fit

As feasibility studies for a convention center and hotel complex in Westmoreland County near completion, leaders from communities along Route 30 say that while they haven’t been contacted for information, they do have ideas about where it could be built.

The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce in December launched a $25,000 study to explore the potential construction of a convention center. CBRE Hotels, a Dallas-based hospitality organization, was paid $25,000 for an initial feasibility study, with the chamber providing $20,000. Hempfield contributed $5,000 from the township’s general fund, said Aaron Siko, township manager.

A second phase of the study is expected to provide chamber officials with an economic benefit analysis and potential building costs. That portion may be finished this week, Daniel DeBone, chamber president, wrote in an email to TribLive.

“Both studies (economic analysis and feasibility) are in the final stages of completion, as additional information and data were recently requested to ensure the reports are as thorough and accurate as possible,” DeBone wrote this week. He declined additional comment about the studies, saying that chamber members want to share and discuss the outcomes internally before making them public.

DeBone said in November that Route 30 area communities of Irwin, Jeannette, Adamsburg, Greensburg and Latrobe — and specifically Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield — would be the focal point.

Doug Weimer, Hempfield supervisor and a member of the chamber’s destination committee, said the studies are not designed to recommend a location for the convention center and hotel. He said he did not meet with CBRE in his capacity as a Hempfield supervisor, but took them on a tour of the Route 30 corridor, from the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in North Huntingdon to Ligonier.

Officials from Ligonier Township, North Huntingdon and Unity all said they did not meet with representatives from CBRE. But they are speculating about possible locations.

Hempfield

Sean Sullivan, general manager of the Live Casino Pittsburgh at the mall, told the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board licensing board at a June hearing that “the study has come out; it says it’s feasible.”

He said the study recommended 50,000 square feet of event space and a hotel with a restaurant, bar and indoor pool. Renderings he presented showed the hotel and convention center by the casino, but Sullivan said he did not know where it would be built.

David La Torre, a spokesman for Live Casino, said the casino would not comment on Sullivan’s statements.

CBL Properties of Chattanooga, Tenn., owns 105 acres at Westmoreland Mall and the strip of stores and movie theater behind the mall, known as Westmoreland Crossing. There is undeveloped land on the mall site.

Stacey Keating, a spokeswoman for CBL Properties, could not be reached for comment. Steve Iaco, a spokesman for CBRE Group, parent company of CBRE Hotels, could not be reached for comment. CBRE has had a presence in Westmoreland County, serving as the leasing agent for retail stores along Route 30 in Hempfield, both east and west of Greensburg.

Unity

Unity officials have identified some places where a convention center could be located within its borders.

“There’s a property of 30 to- 40 acres right across from the (Arnold Palmer Regional Airport) that would probably be a really nice area,” said Unity Supervisor Michael O’Barto. “What would be a better place than around the airport?”

The undeveloped land that might make a good site for a convention center is along Route 981, about a mile south of Route 30 and not far from the intersection of Charles Houck Road, said both O’Barto and Merle Musick, township planning director.

If a slip ramp that has been discussed in neighboring Mt. Pleasant Township becomes a reality, the airport area would have direct access to the Pennsylvania Turnpike via Route 981, Musick said. The section of Route 981 between the airport and Mt. Pleasant Borough is undergoing an upgrade, including softening curves and improving intersections.

Two hotels already are located in the vicinity of the airport: SpringHill Suites by Marriott and a Hampton Inn.

“I think a convention center would be a smart play, especially around the airport. But no matter where it is in Westmoreland County, it would certainly be a big impact on the county,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, which operates the Palmer Airport.

Monzo said he talked with Dan DeBone “in passing” about the possibility of locating a convention center near the Unity airport.

“There’s never been any direct input. It was just, ‘Hey, if you’re interested, we have land available around us.’

“They certainly took it into account during the initial research of the project,” Monzo said, but “we really haven’t heard back from anybody from the chamber.”

Ligonier Township

In the county’s eastern end of the Route 30 corridor, land fronting the highway’s westbound lanes across from the Idlewild and Soak Zone amusement park might be large enough for a convention center, said Michael Strelic, township manager.

“There have been various rumors over the years about doing something over there,” Strelic said.

The Timberlink Golf Course, long closed, once operated in that area. Festival Fun Parks LLC, the new owner of Idlewild and Soak Zone and Kennywood, owns the land that once held the golf course.

If not a convention center, Strelic said, Ligonier Township could do with more hotel rooms to accommodate visitors to local attractions that include golf courses.

A Ramada by Wyndham hotel is located about a block off Route 30 in neighboring Ligonier.

North Huntingdon

Township officials were not contacted about possible sites for a convention center, according to Joshua Andyrokovitch, North Huntingdon’s community development director.

And while much of the land along Route 30 has been developed by businesses — from car dealers to restaurants to shopping centers and a cemetery — a 42-acre site at the public works department off Route 30 had been proposed last year for a multi-sport complex with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds professional soccer team.

The controversial proposal drew support and opposition from nearby residents and officials because the township never advertised for proposals for the site. The developers were seeking a 116-year lease for the land, which also sparked opposition from some township officials.

North Huntingdon pulled the plug in February on leasing the land for a multi-sports complex.

Constructing a new hotel and convention center, along with the parking spaces required by municipal zoning ordinances, could cost about $25 million, said Don Tarosky Jr., a partner in Colony Holding Companies of North Huntingdon, one of the county’s major commercial and residential developers.

A potential site could be near the turnpike’s eastbound entrance ramp, where a Hampton Inn & Suites is located.

“It’s definitely needed,” Tarosky said of a convention center.

Joe Napsha and Jeff Himler are TribLive staff writers.