Heinz History Center accumulating properties for future expansion

The Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District continues to accumulate properties on Penn Avenue for a future expansion that could include a history-themed hotel, according to its top official.

Andy Masich, the center’s president and CEO, said the organization in December purchased the former Sushi Kim Korean restaurant at 1241 Penn Ave. for $1.4 million. The purchase includes two buildings that housed the restaurant, which closed late last year.

Masich said the history center has no current plans for the former restaurant space, but it is running out of room for such things as archival storage, exhibitions and programming in its complex along Smallman.

“All we’re doing is acquiring some properties on Penn Avenue behind the history center for an expansion at some time in the future,” Masich said. “We own most of the properties from mid-block on, but not all of them. It’s something we’re going to chip away at over the years. Whenever there’s an opportunity to buy something, if we can find the money, we will make an offer.”

Matt Napper, president and board chair of the Strip District Neighbors civic group, said he would welcome a center expansion.

“If the history center would expand it would be a great addition to the Strip District,” he said. “The history center is a valuable community asset.”

It last expanded in 2004 with the addition its Smithsonian Wing housing the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, the Mueller Education Center, the Special Collections Gallery and the McGuinn Gallery for traveling exhibitions.

Since 2011, the center has spent nearly $4 million acquiring properties in the 1200 block of Penn, according to Allegheny County real estate records. They include a nine-story former chair warehouse known as the Dietrich Building, which houses its Museum Conservation Center.

Masich said future plans could include a hotel.

The history center last year applied for a $5 million state grant to purchase three properties needed to build a 140-room hotel connected to the history center, according to the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program website. Plans called for the hotel to include historical exhibits “to provide a totally immersive and unparalleled museum experience.”

Masich said the grant was not approved.

“Sometime in the future, it’s something we might consider,” he said.

The history center at 1212 Smallman St. bills itself as the largest historical museum in Pennsylvania. Its roots date to 1879 when residents formed a historical organization that was later named the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

In 1991, the history center acquired a former Chautauqua Lake Ice Co. warehouse on Smallman and converted it for a museum, which opened in 1996.