Officials look to inventory Greensburg's past to help plot future development

A $40,000 project launches this week to inventory Greensburg’s historical buildings with an eye toward potential development.

The review will include consideration for expansion of the city’s downtown historic district that runs along Main Street, bounded by Tunnel Street to the north, Third Street to the south and Harrison Avenue/McKeon Way to the west.

The revised inventory could provide a pathway to rehabilitating and rebuilding century-old structures, according to Brian Lawrence, executive director of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority.

“We know these buildings are not easy to rehabilitate because of their age,” Lawrence said. “We want to save more buildings rather than tear them down.”

The authority and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission each kicked in $20,000 to pay for the inventory that will assess buildings in the established downtown district as well as nearby structures. It will be conducted by consultant Practical Preservation.

Specifically, the inventory will focus on the historically significant architecture up until the 1940s.

“Our goal is to attract development, and this gives us an opportunity to tap into the historical fabric of Greensburg,” said Councilman Gregory Mertz. “We can’t do that until we get a better understanding of what we have.”

It’s a process that officials said could enable the city and potential developers to leverage additional funding sources to restore old buildings.

“That’s impossible if you don’t know where they are,” said Jeff Raykes, city planning director. “We’re trying to get funds and open up the door to contextually sensitive redevelopment in the business district.

“Some of our buildings are getting in really bad shape, so it’s important that we do it now.”

Lawrence pointed to the recent demolition of the Advance Furniture building, which sat across from the Main Street boundary of the city’s historic district. The authority initially looked to rehabilitate the building, but because of its poor condition and lack of substantial funding to make repairs, it was deemed blighted.

Had the building been included in the city’s historic district, Lawrence said, additional funding sources could have been available for a potential rehabilitation to restore it as it appeared a century ago.

There were 62 historical buildings in the downtown Greensburg district listed in a 1995 inventory, according to records from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The new inventory and review are expected to be completed by mid-December and be up for consideration by the city planning commission in early 2024.