Morgan Lee Arts Center
2901 Webster Avenue
Aligns with Master Plan
Hill Dance Academy Theatre
January 2024
Dr. Ayisha Morgan-Lee, EdD submitted on January 5th the plans for an adaptive-reuse of 3 historical buildings in the Upper Hill, to support the Arts
at 2900 Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.
A former convent, located at 2901Webster Avenue, previously used for the religious community of women, the Sisters of St. Joseph, will be the new, short term residency facility for national and local artists, as well as for community use as a retreat, meeting, and office space. b) The former St. Richard Catholic Church rectory, housed the priest of the parish, and was the religious center for programs of the Diocesan schools offices and St. Benedict the Moor parish; later, the administrative offices for Crossroads Foundation, 2915 will be used for HDAT’s Administrative offices for 5 staff members, founder, CEO & Artistic Director, Director of Operations, Director of Fund Development, Communications Director and the Associate Artistic & Rehearsal Director c) The former St. Richard Catholic Church and School building, located at 2900 Bedford Avenue, was the home of St. Benedict the Moor church until 1977 and the former home of St. Benedict the Moor School until 2010 when the school located to the former Van Elementary School, on Watt Street. The facility now houses the dance academy on the second floor, lease holding office spaces for entrepreneurial artists on the first floor along with other lease holding spaces of a flex room, kitchenette and dance store.
February 2024
The DRP Panel reviewed this submission at their monthly internal meeting and voted to have the Development Team present at the next meeting in March.
March 2024
Following a presentation to the Panel, the development received a score of 85% – B. This project was determined to have sufficient alignment with the Greater Hill District Master Plan and will go to the community’s residents for their second scoring at the next community meeting in June. Every single resident of the Hill District neighborhood is encouraged to attend and use their voice to score and give feedback on this project.
June 2024
The development team presented their project at the quarterly community meeting held on June 6th. Following the presentation attending residents and those watching virtually were able to score the project. The community score was a 95% – A.
This resulted in a cumulative DRP score of 90% – A. This indicates that the plan sufficiently aligns with the Greater Hill District Master Plan and has received community support. A letter of support from the Hill CDC was drafted and sent on June 18th, which you can read using the link below.
Downloads:
| Documents: | Size: | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Morgan-Lee Performing Arts Center DRP Presentation | 4.06 MB |
|
morgan-lee-art-centre-drp-summary-and-self-evaluation-jan-2024 | 1.52 MB |
|
Hill CDC Morgan-Lee Arts Center LOS | 279.55 KB |
