Legislation Expected to Pass Full House Later This Year

Thursday, September 12, 2002 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-18) announced today that his legislation, which would create a national historic site on the land of the former U.S. Steel Homestead Works plant in Homestead, passed the House Resources Committee today and is expected to be scheduled for House floor action before the Congress adjourns for the year.

"This is tremendous news, as we have been working for quite some time to make this happen. Finally, this site will stand as a national monument to the dreams and hard work of those who labored in these mills, " stated Rep. Doyle. "Pittsburgh is renowned worldwide for steel. My family worked in the mills during a time when the steel mills in our area were producing the backbone of America, fueling our war effort, and helping build the infrastructure of our cities. By creating a national historic site on this land, we will ensure that this nation and the world will always remember the sacrifices of the men and women who worked here and helped to give Pittsburgh this distinction."

Rep. Doyle has worked closely with August Carlino, President and CEO of the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation (SIHC), in this endeavor. The goal of the SIHC, coordinators of Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, is to preserve the history of steel-making, while at the same time, use it to promote economic development heritage tourism.

"It is so exciting to learn that after 12 long years of hard work the Steel Heritage National Historic Site has been approved in Congress," stated Mr. Carlino. "This means so much to SIHC, the communities of Homestead, Munhall, Swissvale and Rankin, and the entire Pittsburgh region to finally have designated this nationally significant industrial site. Now, we believe, the Homestead Works will stand along side Independence Hall, the Statue of Liberty, and other great icons in this nation, as a testament to the great steel industry of Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley, and as a monument to the men and women who worked there and built America. We are forever grateful to Congressman Doyle and the Congress for their leadership and support."

By designating the old U.S. Steel Homestead Works site as a national historic site, the SIHC, which is a nonprofit organization, would receive financial, interpretation and preservation assistance from the National Park System that would allow them to honor Western Pennsylvania's legacy as the world's greatest industrial power. This designation provides an additional region-wide benefit in the fact that it will assist local communities in their efforts to promote redevelopment, growth and tourism.

The plans of SIHC in enhancing the attractiveness of the former U.S. Steel Homestead Works Site as a tourist destination is to develop a major new American museum complex in the building adjacent to the Carrie Furnaces. This complex will house the reassembled 48" universal plate rolling (the last steam-driven mill in the United States), demonstrate virtual steel-making to its visitors as well as provide many other attractions. In addition, the Hot Metal Bridge will be converted for pedestrian use, allowing people to walk from the blast furnaces and entertainment complex to the Pump House and along the park trails on the banks of the Monongahela River.

The Pump House is the site of the "Battle of Homestead," where workers and townspeople repulsed a force of Pinkerton detectives on the river. The Battle of Homestead stands as the best-known, best-documented and most compelling story in the long history of the struggle between labor and capital in the United States of America. The story of Homestead, its industrial and labor history, continues to attract worldwide interest. Half a dozen books have been written about Homestead in the last ten years, and as many major video and photo projects were produced. In 1998, a painting of Homestead's historic riverfront adorned the volume of poetry that won the National Book Award.

The Pump House is the only structure remaining from the Homestead Works of 1892. In this heyday, the "flagship" plant of U.S. Steel embraced some 300 acres and three miles of riverfront. During World War II, it employed more than 20,000 workers. The site is now a brownfield being redeveloped.

"The Waterfront Development is changing the face of the Mon Valley. Once this site was home of the world's greatest steel production. Now movie theaters, restaurants, and town homes are popping up. This change is necessary and essential to our growth as a region. However, it is important that we do not forget our heritage in the midst of all this change," stated Rep. Doyle. "By creating a national historic site that honors this legacy and promotes growth and tourism, we will be creating a union between our past and present that will allow us to flourish in the future."

The National Park Service found the former U.S. Steel Homestead Works site to be historically significant because it represents three broad threads in American history: 1) the role of engineering and technology in developing the American economy, 2) labor's role in developing the American economy, and 3) peopling places and community.

Now that the House Resources Committee has approved Rep. Doyle's legislation, it is expected to be considered by the full House before they adjourn this fall. The measure would then move to the Senate for consideration before being signed into law.

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