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27-571: In January 2007 it was announced that the amphitheatre would change its name to "The Amphitheatre at Sandcastle" and move to West Homestead, Pennsylvania . The amphitheatre closed in 2006 and remained vacant until reopening May 2009. The venue ultimately closed in January 2012 and was demolished in April 2012. The Highmark Stadium was built on the grounds of the former amphitheatre. In 1989, DiCesare Engler Productions announced that they had partnered with

54-415: A shared-use path connecting Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. , runs through the borough parallel to the river. As of the 2000 census , there were 2,197 people, 956 households, and 623 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,408.9 inhabitants per square mile (930.1/km ). There were 1,106 housing units at an average density of 1,212.7 per square mile (468.2/km ). The racial makeup of

81-438: A hastily made stage every time Mesta won a new contract and exclaiming: "We got this job because you’re the best mechanics in the world!" He often had face-to-face talks with employees and would work the factory floor on weekends, holidays and Christmas, asking workers about new babies or ailing family members. Mesta workers repeatedly voted down efforts to unionize the factory despite its proximity to unionized steel mills including

108-441: A household in the borough was $ 33,309, and the median income for a family was $ 44,338. Males had a median income of $ 35,033 versus $ 27,700 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $ 17,327. About 9.2% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over. West Homestead borough government Mesta Machinery Mesta Machinery

135-503: A roof to cover as many as 4,000 seats. The venue went through another name change in 2003, when it became the Chevrolet Amphitheatre at Station Square. Its last season as the Chevrolet Amphitheatre was 2006. Forest City Enterprises did not extend the lease for the amphitheatre. The company was preparing for possible redevelopment of the site. Live Nation made tentative plans to move the amphitheatre to West Homestead , but

162-531: The Monongahela River . Heavy industries associated with nearby steel mills existed here, such as axle works, brickworks, and manufactories of machinery, car wheels, etc. The largest concern was Mesta Machinery , which was one of the world's leading industrial manufacturers from 1898 until 1983. The population was 1,872 at the 2020 census . There are two primary residential communities in West Homestead:

189-531: The United States Census Bureau , the borough has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km ), of which 0.9 square miles (2.3 km ) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km ), or 9.90%, is water. In 2000, Continental Realestate Companies opened The Waterfront . This large "LifeStyle" shopping center was built on the former site of the US Steel Works. Most of the structures associated with

216-630: The (infamous in labor history) Homestead Mill. Iversen credited his employment policy based on human relations as the chief reason his workers rejected unionization. A month after his death in 1967 (and four years after he stepped down as president) Mesta was unionized. Mesta's West Homestead plant was a center for WWII production. It earned the Army-Navy E Award, and was one of seven factories to earn six stars. Mesta specialized in manufacturing 16-inch naval guns, ship-propeller shafts, artillery carriages and "Long Toms" 155-mm cannons. Iversen personally oversaw

243-511: The 1940s through the 1960s. The company manufactured a 50,000 ton press (the "fifty") as part of the Heavy Press Program , initially owned by the Air Force in 1952 and operated by Alcoa , which purchased it outright in 1982. The press manufactures structural components for aircraft such as the 747 and DC-10 jetliners. After being taken out of service due to cracking in the structure, it

270-538: The 2011 season to make way for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer stadium, planned to begin construction in mid-2012. 40°26′13″N 80°0′39″W  /  40.43694°N 80.01083°W  / 40.43694; -80.01083 West Homestead, Pennsylvania West Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania , United States, 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Pittsburgh , on

297-597: The Bryce house are still visible, home of the founder of Bryce Brothers , Doyle & Co's main competitor. By the 1890s, their separate companies joined United States Glass Company , and the street became home to steel and machinery workers and their management. Among this second wave of entrepreneurial owners, one noteworthy structure is the Mesta Mansion, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and considered

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324-732: The Mesta Mansion continues to stand alongside its neighbors on the historic street, including the Beck-Kelly Estate (1867), the Doyle-Smith House (1872), the Wahr-Siebert House (1887), and the Mesta-Martin House (1898). Another feature of the historic district is the Bulgarian Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center on West Eighth Avenue. Since 1935, this facility has continued to be

351-528: The borough was 89.53% White, 8.83% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.55% of the population. There were 956 households, out of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who

378-634: The center of Bulgarian and Macedonian cultural activity in Western Pennsylvania. West Homestead's Eighth Avenue itself is a tree-lined boulevard adorned by Victorian shops, also on the National Register of Historic Places , and the neighborhood is surrounded by the largest group of ethnic churches on the National Register. West Homestead is located at 40°23′40″N 79°54′55″W  /  40.39444°N 79.91528°W  / 40.39444; -79.91528 (40.394369, −79.915224). According to

405-555: The company from her. Iversen was a native of Denmark and immigrated to the US. He worked in a factory in New Jersey before returning to Denmark to get his degree in engineering, then worked at Mesta as a draftsman in 1903. Prior to 1930 he became chief engineer and held patents on devices integral to every machine manufactured by Mesta, allowing him to establish $ 4 million trusts ($ 89 million today) for each of his five children by 1932. Mesta won

432-479: The contract to build the Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant for U.S. Steel in 1934. Iversen was described by many former employees as the glue that held Mesta together. In the 1930s he won a large contract with a steel manufacturer by foregoing the company's standard fee in exchange for a share of the profits of the manufactured mill. He would regularly cheer on his workers and had a ritual of standing on

459-510: The cornerstone of the district. Built in 1900 by machining engineer and magnate George Mesta, founder of Mesta Machinery , he expanded and renovated the home extensively in 1916 to welcome his bride, the celebrated socialite and political hostess Perle Mesta . After Mesta's death in 1925, by 1932 new owners split the mansion into apartments, a fate shared by several of its neighbors during the Great Depression and after. Fortunately, today

486-646: The historic district and the Village, a post- World War II hilltop community. The historic district consists of a series of hillside residential streets adorned by intact working-class houses reflecting the architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century period when Homestead first flourished. West Homestead's historic district includes Doyle Ave, originally home to several notable glass manufacturing company owners. The homes of William Beck and Joseph Doyle, who co-founded Doyle & Co Glass, are both excellent examples of late Italianate architecture. The ruins of

513-564: The owners of the Station Square Festival Tent to open the Melody Amphitheatre at Station Square. The venue opened on May 31, 1989. The site hosted acts such as The Judds, Kenny G, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as well as various ethnic festivals. The venue became known as the I.C. Light Amphitheatre in 1990. By 1996, the amphitheatre hosted as many as 200,000 people per summer for events such as concerts, weekend festivals, and

540-412: The plans were postponed. The lot remained vacant until 2009. On May 25, 2009, Brian Drusky, a former DiCesare-Engler employee who was laid off by Live Nation in 2005, promoted the first concert at the new amphitheatre. The new venue seated up to 6,000 and was renamed to "The Amphitheatre at Station Square". A year later, the venue was known as the "Trib Total Media Amphitheatre". The venue closed after

567-468: The production of "Little David", a 36-inch bore mortar that was put into production for the canceled Japanese invasion. During the war, Iversen transformed Mesta into one of the nation's top ordnance suppliers, personally working 18-hour shifts in the factory. His accounting department also ran two 8-hour shifts per day. Mesta, and later Iverson, operated the Hays Army Ammunition Plant from

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594-1115: The steel mills on this site were demolished during construction. Still standing in the Waterfront development are some of the brick stacks from the Homestead Steel Works. In addition, near the river is a former mill structure known as the Pump House which was restored by the developer. Sandcastle Waterpark is a waterpark that has 14 water slides and 3 speed slides and the newest addition the Blue Tooba Looba. There are two parks located in West Homestead: Calhoun Community Park (Located off of Fieldstone Drive) and Eighth Avenue Playground (Located next to West Homestead Volunteer Fire Department, entrance on Eighth Avenue). For park rules and hours visit westhomesteadpa .com /assets /files /forms /rules _and _regulations .pdf . The Great Allegheny Passage , part of

621-494: The works "was a thrilling site, spread over many acres on the banks of the Monongahela." George Mesta died in 1925. Harry F. Wahr was the handpicked successor to Mesta and his nephew. Wahr committed suicide in 1930. Lorenz Iversen took over the company in 1930, leading it until December 31, 1963. One of the first things Iversen accomplished in the early 1930s was to buy Perle Mesta's controlling preferred stock, effectively buying

648-420: The yearly Fright Fest designed by Tom Savini The amphitheatre briefly moved to Pittsburgh's South Side in 1994, but was relocated to its original location in 1995 when DiCesare-Engler invested $ 400,000 to build a more permanent structure and increased the seating capacity from 4,000 to 5,000. In 1999, DiCesare-Engler renovated the amphitheatre again, changing the direction of the stage to face west and adding

675-451: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.87. In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.0% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males. The median income for

702-655: Was a leading industrial machinery manufacturer based in the Pittsburgh area town of West Homestead, Pennsylvania . It was founded in 1898 by George Mesta when he merged his machine shop with another. Mesta "machines" can be found in factories throughout the world and as of 1984 had equipment in 500 steel mills. Mesta was the 488th largest American company in 1958 and the 414th largest in 1959. By 1919 Mesta employed 3,000 at West Homestead and manufactured everything from ship propeller shafts to giant turbines for power plants and dams. In 1917, George's wife Perle Mesta wrote that

729-676: Was refurbished over three years at a cost of $ 100 million, and returned to service in 2012. In September 1959, Nikita Khrushchev visited the Mesta Machinery Co. factory on his tour of the U.S., where he received a cigar from a worker. Mesta filed for bankruptcy in February 1983, and most of its West Homestead works was sold off in June 1983. The company's last assets were sold in April 1988. The property in West Homestead where Mesta Machinery

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