Carrie Furnace Site Could House Hollywood-Type Film Studio

PITTSBURGH, PA — Hollywood on the Mon? Allegheny County has approved an ambitious new plan to redevelop the Carrie Furnace site that could include a film studio campus.

The county redevelopment authority is partnering with the Regional Industrial Development Corporation to add infrastructure and buildings on 52 acres of land adjacent to the historic Carrie blast furnaces that cut across Munhall, Rankin, Swissvale and Whitaker.

RIDC is working with the Pittsburgh Film Office and other unspecified parties on the possibility of creating The Film Furnace – a studio campus with sound stages and other amenities that could lure movie and TV productions to western Pennsylvania.

RIDC will begin roadway design this fall and begin construction next spring, followed by construction of 100,000 square feet of tech flex buildings. The project also includes a riverside pedestrian and bike trail along the Monongahela River connecting the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge to the Great Allegheny Passage and the Westmoreland Heritage Trail via the Turtle Creek Valley.

The phased development will have various commercial uses, including flex-tech, research and development, workforce education and training life sciences, light manufacturing and assembly, and other uses.

“RIDC has great experience in this region of shepherding projects to fruition, and we’re delighted to partner with them on the Carrie Furnace site,” county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said. “This is an important project for the Mon Valley."

Be the first to know what's happening in your community and region. With a free Patch subscription, you'll always be up to date on local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe.