Owner, architect race to save National Negro Opera house in Homewood
While a recent influx of grant money signals a brighter future for the birthplace of the National Negro Opera Company, the clock is ticking to stabilize the crumbling house in Homewood.
Earlier this month, the side porch collapsed, and holes in the roof that allow rain inside the house on Apple Street threatened further damage.
The home’s owner, Jonnet Solomon, fears it could get worse before she receives approval from the city’s Historic Review Commission, which is asking for a plan to restore the 1894 house, not just stabilize it.
“They basically want to move closer to restoration and not stabilization because stabilizing the property extends the project,” said
Ms. Solomon, who bought the home in 2000 and has worked since then to raise money to restore it.
Ms. Solomon’s engineer, Ryan England, said he understands why the city is pushing back; there is less urgency, and it’s more difficult to raise money for stabilization.
The project’s architect, Milton Ogot, has estimated it would cost $2 million to restore the house as a museum and cultural arts center. But Ms. Solomon said the cost is now closer to $3 million, and that the house requires stabilization before restoration can begin.
In 1941, the Queen Anne-style house became the headquarters for the National Negro Opera Company and began welcoming Black musicians, entertainers and other celebrities. People who have visited or stayed at the house include Count Basie, Ahmad Jamal, Lena Horne and Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente.
The huge house fell into disrepair after it was abandoned in the 1970s. In September, it was named one of the nation’s most endangered places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In April, the project received a $500,000 grant from the Richard King
The huge house fell into disrepair after it was abandoned in the 1970s. In September, it was named one of the nation’s most endangered places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Mellon Foundation, and in July, the Washington, D.C.based African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund added $75,000 more.
Now, Ms. Solomon and her team must submit a revised plan to the Historic Review Commission for approval.
“That’s one of the hurdles ... having the happy medium to say, ‘Here’s what makes sense’ based on the money we have right now and what we need to fundraise,” Ms. Solomon said.
A race to stabilize
This spring, Mr. Ogot estimated the cost of stabilization and restoration to be $2.08 million. After surveying the property twice in the past year, he drafted an initial stabilization plan in late April.
According to his structural assessment, the house is not currently safe to enter. Most threatening to its structural integrity is damage to the roof and exterior framing and a collapsed chimney. Mr. Ogot says a majority of the chimney’s bricks have fallen into the basement, a failure that now threatens adjacent areas of the floor and roof.
The report says that while the roof’s overall structure is secure, compromised sections will need to be repaired and replaced entirely with slate.
Mr. Ogot flew a drone over the house to assess the scope of the damage, but much of it can be seen on the inside. During their assessment earlier this year, the architect and Mr. England found that missing steps on a rusty outdoor staircase made it impossible to access the second and third floors. So they used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window.
“We climbed up into the upper floor, which is pretty bad because water’s been coming in for a long time and there’s gaps in the roof, holes in the roof and so on,” Mr. Ogot said in a phone interview.
He said the first floor has problems similar to the upper levels, especially from rotted wood joists around the fireplace.
“That all collapsed and took parts of the floor with it, so you really can’t go into that room,” Mr. Ogot said.
Once the building is structurally secure, the historical restoration process would begin. Mr. Ogot said restoration involves replicating interior details such as original baseboards and ornamental trim above the doors and windows. Because city and state preservation organizations are involved, the architect said he’s required to replicate the home’s original design as much as possible.
A handshake and a promise
Twenty years ago, Ms. Solomon enlisted Mr. Ogot to help restore the house after she purchased it for $18,000 along with the late Miriam White, who lived nearby.
“We met at a coffee shop,” said Ms. Solomon, reflecting on that day. “He shook my hand and said, ‘I will be with you until the end.’ ”
Ms. Solomon’s family came to Pittsburgh from Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, in 1984. She met Mr. Ogot in the late 1990s, when he was working for an architectural restoration company and she was working as an accountant with the Black Contractors Association.
“We were talking, and we both realized we were immigrants,” said Mr. Ogot, who is from Kenya and moved to the United States in 1981 to pursue an education.
“We had the same cultural background; we have the same ambition — my dad is an entrepreneur; I’m an entrepreneur,” Ms. Solomon said. “We were basically going through the same journey when we met.”
When she and Ms. White purchased the Negro Opera Company house in 2000, Mr. Ogot was encouraged by his boss to volunteer his time with the restoration.
“At that point, they did not have any money,” he said.
Despite many letters and pleas to nonprofits and famous people who knew the house, that did not change.
“Every year we’d try to find out, ‘Well, did you get any money?’ ” Mr. Ogot recalled, laughing. “She said, ‘No, not yet, but I need you to update the report.’ ”
Ms. Solomon describes Mr. Ogot as “gracious,” a business partner-turned-friend who taught her the ups and downs of historical preservation.
“He was just a great mentor in keeping the right spirit and the right enthusiasm, the right approach,” she said. “Because it’s just a world I never knew. I didn’t understand how slow it moves and how people can make great promises with money ... and then you get to the end, and it’s not a great promise — or money.”
At one point, neighbors in Homewood complained about the house’s deterioration, and the city condemned the site.
“Thank God they didn’t tear it down,” Mr. Ogot said.
About eight years ago, the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh got involved. The nonprofit lobbied to have the house added to the National Trust’s list of endangered properties. The National Trust’s announcement in September did not come with money, but it drew national attention to the National Negro Opera Company, which was founded here in 1941 by opera singer Mary Cardwell Dawson.
Next steps
If Mr. Ogot and Ms. Solomon can strike an agreement on an updated plan with the city’s Historic Review Commission, Mr. England said it may also have to be submitted to the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office and the U.S. National Park Service if historic tax credits are part of the project’s financing.
Mr. Ogot acknowledges the process can take time, but he is eager to begin — not just because of decades of anticipation but because the home faces the threat of vandalism.
“You have to shore up the building, because people have been in and out,” he said. “They’re stealing pieces of trim, they’re stealing doors and so on. We don’t want to lose those.”
Ms. Solomon attributed the recent porch collapse to theft — someone stole one of the support beams propping it up.
Upcoming winter weather threatens further damage to the interior through the damaged roof. Mr. Ogot had hoped a plan would have been approved by September so work could begin.
Next generation
Ms. Solomon’s goal is for the house to become a museum and cultural center for local artists. When that happens, she’ll have some words for her friend.
“I’ll say to Milton what I pretty much say every week since I met him: ‘Thank you.’
“I think the greatest gratitude is just acknowledging that thank you. Because it encompasses basically everything that he’s done for me and this project, and really for the city of Pittsburgh.”
Surprisingly, Mr. Ogot admitted that he wasn’t always interested in historic renovation. But that changed with this project and a similar restoration project he started in 1996 on the Hill District’s New Grenada Theater.
“Over time, they give you a history of the building, and you do your own research and you realize not only the historic nature of the building itself but what it was actually used for and then all of a sudden it’s, ‘Well, maybe I can be another part of this whole history of the building and trying to bring it back,’ ” he said.
“Slowly but surely, all of a sudden, you realize the magnitude of restoring this building. There’s so many people looking towards you not to mess it up.”