Former Albert’s Service Station commemorated
How the station looked in the 1970s.
The site transformed into Village Park in 2011 after Point Park University bought it in 2000.
From left: Jan Susan Albert-Sloss, Geno Albert, Dean Albert and Point Park University President Paul Hennigan. At center, the plaque dedicated in memory of Eugene Albert and Albert’s Service Station.
Three generations of Alberts huddled inside Lawrence Hall on Point Park’s campus Dec. 1.
Albert’s Service Station should have been the set of a sitcom. There was a monkey running around, a toothless vagrant and drivers who thought R on the gear shift meant “really fast.” The family of the late patriarch whose gas station served as an epicenter for community and commerce was honored Dec. 1 at Point Park University as the Albert family saw the unveiling of a plaque on the site of the former gas station.
Point Park University transformed the site at the corner of Boulevard of the Allies and Wood Street into Village Park after the school bought the property in 2000. From 1953-1998, Eugene “Gene” Albert of Scott Township ran the station up until just two years before he died in March 2000 at age 82. But the station became much more than a fill-up stop.
“My grandfather would pull me out of school just to come hang out,” said 24-year-old Rhys Sloss, “we would go shopping in the Grand Concourse. He knew everyone.”
“He was the unofficial mayor of Pittsburgh,” said Jan Susan Albert-Sloss, the 57-year-old daughter of the late Albert, whose family still lives in Scott Township
“We would plan our weekends to come into the city just to get gas … this place was just a bustle to be around. When the Pirates won the pennant (in 1979), we were here on the streets cheering. When the Steelers went to the Superbowl, we were here. It was the place to be for a parade or any type of celebration,” she said.
Even those who didn’t have much to celebrate could count on Gene.
“His name was Walter. He had no teeth, couldn’t speak English – I think he was Russian. But he was there for at least a decade,” Geno Albert, 67, said of the homeless man whom his dad employed and let live in the boiler room.
“He slept next to a compressor that was loud as anything, and he cooked on a little stove in there,” he said.
Then there were the gas shortages in 1973.
“I remember it was an odd-even number system we used and people were getting really upset, because they’d come expecting gas no matter what. We had about 100,000 gallons rationed for a month and we had lines backed down the boulevard,” said Albert’s 61-year-old son, Dean Albert.
“We’d say, ’10 gallons and you’re done. That’s all.’ That didn’t make too many people happy.”
Before GPS and smartphones, service stations were a person’s go-to source for getting directions. Some requests were more urgent than others.
“The guy rolled into the station in reverse, window already down and yelling, ‘Hey! Where’s Fort Pitt Tunnels!?'” Dean said with a laugh.
“I pointed and next thing you know, he backed up all the way up to a light before turning around. He just bolted,” he said.
Three generations of Alberts gathered for the plaque ceremony, and it was all thanks to Tara Albert-Lavy.
“Our grandfather was someone who made us have family dinners every Sunday – cousins, everyone. And our families have been doing a good job passing on that tradition. I wanted Pittsburgh to know about him, and how he helped build community here,” she said.
Albert-Lavy had meetings with the former college president in 2000, but it wasn’t until current president Paul Hennigan mobilized an effort to acknowledge Albert’s literal place in history.
“It was a long process, but I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Point Park was very good to work with. They took the time to make sure he was remembered the right way,” she said.
But what about that monkey?
“Bobo I think his name was,” Geno Albert said.
Family members recall it was a rhesus monkey – no relation to Rhys – who would entertain some family members while terrorizing others.
“One of my cousins hated that thing. He would curse at it, try to swat at it. And one day, the monkey kept coming back, climbing on him while he was working. He had a power tool he was working with, and Bobo unplugged it!”