THE GROUNDBREAKING TO THE RESTORATION OF THE HISTORIC NEW GRANADA THEATER, MAY 25, IN THE HILL DISTRICT. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Sooner than you think, thousands of people in the Hill District and beyond will be enjoying the brand new performance spaces, small businesses and overall vitality of the New Granada Theater and its surroundings along Centre Avenue, called New Granada Square. Walking into the New Granada will be as normal as heading to the grocery store.
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MARIMBA MILLIONES
But to put into words the time, effort and finances it has taken to start the restoration process of the New Granada back to its glory days of the early and mid-1950s, might take up this entire newspaper. Like a lot of people in the ‘90s, Marimba Milliones, the longtime president and CEO of the Hill Community Development Corporation (Hill CDC), didn’t have it in her mind originally to restore the historic theater, designed by Black architect Louis Bellinger, which played host to the legends; Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, and countless others. Milliones was the first web developer for the City of Pittsburgh, when the Internet was in its infancy.
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MARIMBA MILLIONES AND HUSBAND, RICHARD W. TAYLOR
In the late ‘90s, Milliones decided to have a meeting with the former Hill CDC leader Elbert Hatley. She had an idea to give African Americans in the Hill District and elsewhere a place to come to train on web coding, which is a highly-paid profession.
“I was super green and super young,” Milliones recalled, “and I didn’t know I was being cultivated for volunteer work. So, I walked in pitching to him (Hatley) and I walked out on his list of people he was going to recruit to the (Hill CDC) board.”
As part of their conversations, Milliones said she remembered Hatley wanting to raise money to save the New Granada Theater. “He thought we should save that building,” Milliones said, “and he was the one who planted that seed in my heart to carry that struggle forward.”
Fast forward more than 20 years later, and here we are. In the year 2023, May 25 to be exact, the hard hats and shovels were out in front of the New Granada Theater, symbolizing the official groundbreaking to the restoration of the historic building that means so much to African Americans, means so much to Pittsburgh.
It took more than 7,300 days of fighting ferociously for the funding, the capital for the project. More than 7,300 days of being told “No,” “Yes,” “Maybe,” “Not right now,” “Why are you doing this?” and more. More than 7,300 days of hearing from longtime Hill District African Americans, telling Milliones to keep pushing forward.
About 100 people celebrated the milestone on a sunny Thursday afternoon, hugs and handshakes abound, knowing that the endless fighting for the tens of millions of dollars needed for the project had been secured, and it was time to “get to gettin’.”
Business
A new day is dawning for New Granada Theater
THE GROUNDBREAKING TO THE RESTORATION OF THE HISTORIC NEW GRANADA THEATER, MAY 25, IN THE HILL DISTRICT. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Sooner than you think, thousands of people in the Hill District and beyond will be enjoying the brand new performance spaces, small businesses and overall vitality of the New Granada Theater and its surroundings along Centre Avenue, called New Granada Square. Walking into the New Granada will be as normal as heading to the grocery store.
https://newpittsburghcourier.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/IMG_1341-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px" />
MARIMBA MILLIONES
But to put into words the time, effort and finances it has taken to start the restoration process of the New Granada back to its glory days of the early and mid-1950s, might take up this entire newspaper. Like a lot of people in the ‘90s, Marimba Milliones, the longtime president and CEO of the Hill Community Development Corporation (Hill CDC), didn’t have it in her mind originally to restore the historic theater, designed by Black architect Louis Bellinger, which played host to the legends; Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, and countless others. Milliones was the first web developer for the City of Pittsburgh, when the Internet was in its infancy.https://newpittsburghcourier.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/IMG_4782-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px" />
MARIMBA MILLIONES AND HUSBAND, RICHARD W. TAYLOR
In the late ‘90s, Milliones decided to have a meeting with the former Hill CDC leader Elbert Hatley. She had an idea to give African Americans in the Hill District and elsewhere a place to come to train on web coding, which is a highly-paid profession.
“I was super green and super young,” Milliones recalled, “and I didn’t know I was being cultivated for volunteer work. So, I walked in pitching to him (Hatley) and I walked out on his list of people he was going to recruit to the (Hill CDC) board.”
As part of their conversations, Milliones said she remembered Hatley wanting to raise money to save the New Granada Theater. “He thought we should save that building,” Milliones said, “and he was the one who planted that seed in my heart to carry that struggle forward.”
Fast forward more than 20 years later, and here we are. In the year 2023, May 25 to be exact, the hard hats and shovels were out in front of the New Granada Theater, symbolizing the official groundbreaking to the restoration of the historic building that means so much to African Americans, means so much to Pittsburgh.
It took more than 7,300 days of fighting ferociously for the funding, the capital for the project. More than 7,300 days of being told “No,” “Yes,” “Maybe,” “Not right now,” “Why are you doing this?” and more. More than 7,300 days of hearing from longtime Hill District African Americans, telling Milliones to keep pushing forward.
About 100 people celebrated the milestone on a sunny Thursday afternoon, hugs and handshakes abound, knowing that the endless fighting for the tens of millions of dollars needed for the project had been secured, and it was time to “get to gettin’.”
https://newpittsburghcourier.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/IMG_1252-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px" />
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