‘A Historical Moment’: Bethel AME Church Near Deal with Penguins to Return to Old Arena Site

NOTE: We reported on this effort for reparations to make the Bethel AME congregation whole last fall. We are excited to report with this article that it appears the effort is nearing completion.

MARK BELKO

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

mbelko@post-gazette.com

January 12, 2023

More than six decades after it was forced off the land, Bethel AME Church could return to the former Civic Arena site as part of a proposed deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Rev. Dale B. Snyder, pastor of the Hill District church, said Wednesday that he hopes to finalize a memorandum of understanding with the team that would give Bethel AME the opportunity to develop up to 1.5 acres on the site.

“I think we’re close to an agreement. It’s just that we have to work out all of the details,” he said.

For more than a year, Rev. Snyder has been pushing the Penguins to return to the church the land it stood on from 1906 to 1957 before it was demolished to make way for the Civic Arena.

Read more at https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/01/11/bethel-ame-church-hill-district-penguins-civic-arena-wylie-crawford-land/stories/202301110088.