Two Museums Host "Colonial Fair"

The Ft. Pitt Museum officially reopens Saturday with a weekend-long fair, complete with historical re-enactors, such as George and Martha Washington, arts and crafts workshops for children and adults, plus American Indian storytellers and dance groups. Visitors can see related exhibits at the Senator John Heinz History Center in the Strip District. Free trolley shuttles will go back and forth between the two museums every 15 minutes.

When the History Center took over operation of the Ft. Pitt Museum, which had been closed due to state budget shortfalls, they hired Alan Gutchess, a French and Indian War expert, as the new director. He has personally created many of the new exhibits. He says he visited the museum both as a child growing up in Northwest Ohio and also as an adult. Sharing his love of the history and time period he describes as a "tremendous opportunity".

The Colonial Fair takes place Saturday from 10 to 4 and Sunday from 12 to 4

Refurbished Fort Pitt Museum Opens Doors Saturday

In August the Fort Pitt Museum closed its doors due to a of a lack of funding. But thanks to a state contract allowing the John Heinz History Center to operate the museum, it will be open to the public once more. History Center CEO Andy Masich says they spent the past few months refurbishing the facility. He says the infrastructure was outdated and it needed fresh paint, electrical maintenance and a lot of work on the exhibits–including adding new artifacts, changing labels and building new forensic figures that bring museums to life. Another problem is that the museum, situated in Point State Park, is hidden in plain sight. To that end, Masich says they're putting up new signage, mounting a marketing campaign and making it a destination for school field trips. They also plan to stay relevant through ever changing exhibits, programs and activities. This weekend the museum will hold special events like musket firing and colonial craft demonstrations. A shuttle will run between the Fort Pitt Museum and the Heinz History Center every 15 minutes and a ticket bought at one facility will get visitors into both buildings. More information is available at heinzhistorycenter.org.

Fort Pitt Museum to Reopen, Director Named

The Fort Pitt Museum in downtown Pittsburgh will reopen April 17, eight months after it closed due to a cutoff in state funding. The Heinz History Center reached agreement with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to operate the museum which sits at the site of Fort Duquesne, built by the French, which was captured and rebuilt as Fort Pitt by the British in 1758, which was the official founding of the city of Pittsburgh.
Heinz History Center President and CEO Andy Masich says over the past six months they have rebuilding infrastructure and exhibits at the museum and developing a funding structure that involves state and private funds plus earned income. Masich says this year the state will contribute $172,000 toward the museum's estimated $500,000 operating costs.
Masich says they've hired a new director for Fort Pitt: Alan Gutchess, formerly a gunsmith at Colonial Williamsburg, a French and Indian War historian with a special interest in Native American tribes that lived in southwestern Pennsylvania during colonial times.
The grand reopening will be part of a Colonial Fair at the History Center that will include interactive features, living history, crafts and shuttles to the Fort Pitt Museum which will have new exhibits.
Masich says Fort Pitt Museum is a real gem in the Pittsburgh community..."Point State Park is national historic landmark. It's really the place where Pittsburgh began. It would have been more than a shame if it (the museum) closed, it would have been criminal."

State Budget Impasse Closes Fort Pitt Museum

The Fort Pitt Museum in Point State Park and several other historical sites in Pennsylvania have been closed indefinitely because of the ongoing budget stalemate. Kirk Wilson, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission says the Fort Pitt Museum closed Friday and will not reopen until the state budget is resolved. Wilson also says the Bushy Run Battlefield in Westmoreland County, the Joseph Priestley House in Northumberland County and the Brandywine Battlefield in Chester County are also closed indefinitely because of a lack of state funding. The commission plans to lay off 23 workers.

Fort Pitt Museum to Receive Gift

The Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum will mark the end of a 40-year association with the museum by giving it a significant original work of art.

Donn Neil, President of Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum Commission, says it's a bittersweet occasion.

"It's sad that we're going to lose our association with the museum," he says. "Yet all of the contributions that we've made in the way of artifacts and documents are there, and we hope they remain there. And now this crowning gift of the wonderful John Buxton painting."

John Buxton, a local artist who has commissioned a historical painting at the Fort Pitt Museum before, is now going to work on a large dramatic piece on Fort Pitt and the American Revolution. Neil says it should be completed in about five years, just in time for the 250th anniversary of the historic event.

Fort Pitt Museum to Stay Open

The Fort Pitt Museum will remain open. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) Board today voted unanimously to keep the museum open and to seek a contract with the Heinz Regional History Center to operate the facility.
With state budget cuts, the commission had earlier decided to close Fort Pitt Museum in Pittsburgh and the Bushy Run Battlefield in Westmoreland County. Fort Pitt was built in 1754 when General John Forbes and Colonel George Washington led British troops that chased the French from the region during the French and Indian War.
Several organizations submitted proposals to keep Ft. Pitt Museum open including the group, Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum. Commission Board member State Senator Jim Ferlo says the "Friends" group would still be encouraged to play a role and that would be defined as a contract is drafted with the Heinz Regional History Center. The Center's President, Andy Masich, says he's delighted by the PHMC decision and it's "natural" because the Center was founded 130 years ago in time for the 125th anniversary of the French and Indian War.
Masich says their goal is to make Ft. Pitt Museum bigger and better and attract more people, especially students...."including some of the 50,000 students that visit the Heinz History Center each year."
Masich says he'd like to see ongoing archaeological work at the site because "there's still a lot of history underfoot" and an archaeology lab on the first floor of the museum in cooperation with a regional university.
Masich is hoping to erect a 36-foot tall garrison flag to fly over the fort and be lit 24 hours a day so it's the first thing motorists see coming through the Fort Pitt Tunnels. He says some parts of their 5 year plan can be done in time for the new school year and the G-20 Summit in September.

Fort Pitt's Fate to be Decided Shortly

Three non-profit organizations have been bidding for management of the Fort Pitt Museum after the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) deemed it fit for closure this spring. Senator John Heinz History Center, the Friends of Fort Pitt Museum (FFPM), and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum all expressed interest in overseeing the beleaguered museum at previous PHMC meetings in Pittsburgh.

Now, the FFPM and the History Center have submitted formal proposals to the PHMC before the commission’s quarterly meeting on June 17th. Soldiers and Sailors has not done so, says PHMC Executive Director Barbara Franco.

Franco says the commission will look over the proposals, as well as the minutes from previous public meetings, in order to decide which direction in which to go. From there, says Franco, the PHMC will negotiate with the non-profit organization to work out the details of their management. Franco says the commission is looking mostly for long-term sustainability when choosing a management staff.

President Donn Neal of the FFPM says his group’s plan is best because it combines new ideas with an already experienced staff. He says his plan would market the museum aggressively and allow for private investment as well.

The History Center declined comment; Soldiers and Sailors could not be reached.