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Flag foundation to show its colors atop Koppers Building

A nonprofit — described as fiercely apolitical and dedicated to educating the public about all things American flag — is being reborn with a spiffy educational center in Downtown and plans to light up the Pittsburgh skyline.

The Pittsburgh-born National Flag Foundation is marking Flag Day on Thursday by announcing the opening of a flag education center on the first floor of the historic Koppers Building.

Also planned for the city landmark on patriotic holidays is red, white and blue lighting atop the 34-story building, with white stars projected from the nearby, taller Gulf Building.

The new lighting will not be visible until August, and the educational center, with free admission and rotating flag exhibits, will open next year.

The flag foundation will move its offices to the 22nd floor of the Koppers Building from Uptown, foundation chairman Romel Nicholas said.

“This has been building momentum for several years, the coming-out party for the flag foundation,” said Mr. Nicholas, who is a lawyer with the Downtown firm of Gaitens, Tucceri & Nicholas. “It’s not only good for the country, it’s going to be good for the city.”

The National Flag Foundation will hold a program at its new headquarters, starting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, which will include the singing of the national anthem by Jeff Jimerson, perhaps best known for singing the anthem for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and elementary school students leading the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The foundation is marking its 50th anniversary in 2018, and its rebirth follows several years of low activity due to financial issues. Now, it’s back. The foundation has secured a $250,000 grant from the Sewickley-based Thomas Marshall Foundation and has received support from the PNC Foundation and private donations to secure its future.

Lighting for the Koppers Building, with its signature green cap, had been failing, so building owners Rugby Realty Inc. were exploring replacement options when the foundation proposed a flag motif, said Larry Walsh, Rugby chief operating officer and principal.

On holidays such as Independence Day, red-andwhite bands will circle the top of the Koppers Building and the green cap will turn blue with lighting, Mr. Walsh said. On all other days, the roof will remain the familiar green.

“The signature rooftop of the Koppers Building is something we wanted to preserve,” Mr. Walsh said.

The National Flag Foundation “has a historic past,” Mr. Nicholas said in a statement ,“including a connection to many U.S. presidents, involvement at the federal level regarding the Flag Code aswell as a relationship with over7,000 U.S. schools to help foster knowledge, good citizenship and patriotism among our young people.”

Mr. Nicholas said he hoped to have the Koppers Building topped in the colors of the flag 50 days a year, possibly extending some patriotic holidays into weekends.

The flag beacon will be something to see, he said.