Aug 29, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 4 min read

The “temporarily closed for renovations” message in front of the Historical Society of Mount Lebanon’s headquarters and history center has been replaced.

Signs at 794 Washington Road now announce the date for the building’s reopening: Sept. 29.

During a recent program at Mt. Lebanon Public Library, Jim Wojcik, historical society president, provided an update and spoke about the history of the building, which dates back to the late 1920s or early ’30s.

“We couldn’t find the original building permit, so we don’t know exactly when it was built,” he said, but the folks who have done the research know that the structure originated as a Spanish Colonial-style home owned by Edward and Laura Ohl.

Starting in 1946, Dr. Donald McMillan and his family lived there, with the physician’s office located on the bottom floor, fronting Lebanon Avenue.

The now-defunct Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority bought the property from the McMillans in 1982 with the intention of tearing down the house and nearby structures to create an apartment complex, according to Wojcik.

That wasn’t the only time demolition was suggested. When the historical society was working with the municipality on a purchase agreement for the property, as approved by the Mt. Lebanon Commission in 2014, Wojcik said that a developer approached him with a plan:

“Hey, if you help me with the municipality in purchasing all these other houses, we’ll knock ’em all down,” he was told. “I’ll put up a nice apartment building and give you a free space for your history center.”

Considering the society’s mission to preserve local history, the existing building was preferable. It did need quite a bit of work, though.

“The place leaked. The roof was in terrible shape. It did lots of damage to the inside. A lot of the hardwood floors, basically were ruined. A lot of the plaster on the walls was ruined,” Wojcik recalled. “When it rained, literally, we used garbage cans and buckets to catch the water as best we could.”

Installing a new roof and removing asbestos constituted the first phase of renovations, which started in late 2016. The second phase began in March to address an extensive list of issues, focusing on the building’s main floor.

At one point, for example, the interior had been modified to provide an environment more fitting for an office than a residence. That involved such measures as putting up extra walls, laying down carpeting over the floor tile, installing drop ceilings and dispensing with some especially distinctive features.

“In the middle of this house is an atrium, and that atrium actually had a fountain with a lion squirting water out of it,” Wojcik said.

The fountain is nowhere to be found. But historical society members and associates have been successful in tracking down numerous items that belong to the house, including stained-glass windows that turned up in the basement next door when that building was undergoing renovation.

The history center now meets Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, fulfilling a major objective of the historical society. Future renovations will address the ground floor, where the historical society had its headquarters starting in 2009 and plans call for a large community meeting room, and the second story, which features an outdoor deck overlooking Washington Road.

“Eventually, we hope to be able to turn that into a place where folks can go and have their crackers and cheese and what have you.”

Fundraising efforts will continue – more than $500,000 has been brought in so far – as the historical society looks to make full use of the building with its reopening. Featured through November will be the exhibit “Mt. Lebanon Fire Department: 100 Years of Serving the Community.”

On Dec. 1, the Senator John Heinz History Center’s traveling exhibit “We Can Do It! WWII” will make its first appearance in the South Hills. Members of nearby historical societies are working in conjunction with the effort, with the message from Mt. Lebanon:

“We have it here,” Wojcik said, “but think of it as your exhibit, not just ours.”

For more information, visit http://lebohistory.org/.