With the state planning to close Mayview State Hospital, officials are about to begin talks on what happens next at the sprawling South Hills complex.
At issue: Redevelopment of 335 acres with more than 30 buildings near heavily traveled Boyce Road.
The state-owned facility is in South Fayette and bordered on three sides by Upper St. Clair. Both townships want a say in the redevelopment plan.
A legislative task force headed by state Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon, and Rep. Nick Kotik, D-McKees Rocks, is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at the hospital. The meeting is open to the public.
"The sole purpose of this task force is to look at the grounds and buildings and what's the potential best use," Pippy said. "We want to make sure this is a very open and objective process. There are no preconceived uses" for the property.
The task force of 12 or more members will include representatives from the townships, regional chambers of commerce and government entities such as the state departments of Public Welfare and General Services, and the Allegheny County Economic Development Department.
State officials announced in August that the Public Welfare Department will close the psychiatric hospital by the end of the year. The grounds and buildings will become surplus property under the jurisdiction of the General Services Department.
Kotik said the task force will "do a lot of fact-finding, looking at the highest and best use of the property, and the impact that it would have on the surrounding communities."
Various interest groups, including people with environmental concerns, will participate in discussions, he said.
Mayview is being shuttered as part of the state's effort to move patients from institutions to community-based settings. Eleven state hospitals have closed since 1979.
"I'm optimistic that South Fayette will have a strong voice as part of the task force," Commissioner J. Deron Gabriel said. "Our constituents should have local control over both the buildings and land located in South Fayette, including whether they become small businesses or some other taxable entity."
Mark S. Mansfield, acting manager of Upper St. Clair, noted the township owns a 470-acre park adjacent to the hospital property and has invested $27.5 million to build a community recreation center.
"Obviously, any redevelopment that occurs down there, we certainly want it to be something complementary to the park in whatever way that can be," Mansfield said.
Redevelopment of other former hospital sites in the region have had mixed results.
In 1998, the state sold about 280 acres at the former Woodville State Hospital site in Collier to a developer for $2.3 million. Part of the property is a shopping center.
A Kilbuck resident bought the 407-acre site of the former Dixmont State Hospital in Kilbuck for $757,000 in 1999. Wal-Mart planned to build a supercenter on part of the site, but canceled the plan after a September 2006 landslide that shut Route 65 for two weeks.
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