Rev. Dr. Dale B. Snyder, Sr., speaks at the rededication ceremony for Bethel AME Church where he is a pastor on Friday, April 14, 2023, at the former location of the legendary Lower Hill District church. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
The displaced Bethel AME Church may not be moving back, but a new development aims to build a “citadel of hope” for the new century.
by Eric Jankiewicz, PublicSource
Pittsburgh’s oldest Black church this week revealed plans for an apartment building on its historic site, with hopes to revitalize a once-thriving congregation through housing and social activism.
In April, the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to give 1.5 acres of Lower Hill District land along Crawford and Colwell streets to the Bethel AME Church. The neighborhood was home to the church from the early 1800s until the 1950s, when it was taken using eminent domain and demolished to make room for the Civic Arena. The church is currently located in the Middle Hill District on Webster Avenue.
Bethel AME Pastor Dale Snyder told PublicSource that the congregation settled on plans to keep the church at its current location and instead build a 128-unit apartment complex with the intention of finding a daycare provider for the ground level.
“We want this place to be a citadel of hope again to give people the tools needed to go forward,” Snyder said. “I have congregants who can’t afford to come back [to the Hill District] and this will let them come home. They want to come home.”
Snyder said construction is expected to start in the next two to three years, depending on how long it takes to get through the approval process.
“I know how to bring people from diverse backgrounds together,” Snyder said. “I’m a social justice person that can make the economy and capitalism work for the poor.”
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