West Penn Castle
West Penn Castle

A Pittsburgh Landmark is scheduled for demolition and needs public voices to save it.

This Castle-like property is located on the Ohio River at the end of the bike trail, just 3 miles from the Pittsburgh city center, and has a potentially bright future as a hospitality mecca.   It could host new recreational vehicle tourism, a hostel with cyclists from the Great Allegheny Passage, guests seeking a unique hotel experience, visitors wanting to view the site and museum, and the film industry by keeping Paramount and their hosts of staff and support businesses in Pittsburgh.

This is a campaign that is asking for your support to stop the demolition order and to Petition the property owner, State of Pennsylvania, to accept proposals for the restoration of the original historic buildings and courtyard.

Please read below, sign the Petition, and forward to family and friends.

(Your data privacy is important to us. Your data will be sent securely and will not be sold.)

Not convinced to sign the petition, yet?

Read on!

Abandoned but not Forgotten
Abandoned but not Forgotten

To alter the scheduled demolition and preserve this historically significant, National Registry Landmark property, and to repurpose it into functional uses that would significantly benefit the city, residents, businesses, film industry, and tourism in a multitude of ways.

Pittsburgh has a huge, historic castle with 25’ high stone walls and watchtowers surrounding a courtyard that could be a major tourist attraction to accompany the Fort Pitt Block House, Cathedral of Learning, Allegheny Co. Court House, Mon Incline & Station Square, and so many more, but none matching the magnificent grandeur size of the West Penn Castle.

Western State Penitentiary is a former state prison originally constructed between 1878 and 1893 on the east banks of the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. At the time of its completion, it was the most expensive and modern prison in the world. Western State Penitentiary emerged as a leader in penology in Pennsylvania during the late 19th century.

This Massillon Sandstone main building was designed by noted architect Edward M. Butz and supervisory architect Frederick C. Sauer in the Romanesque style, and the Warden’s House in front was in a Chateauesque style with Gothic elements.

BUT NOW THIS MONUMENT IS SCHEDULED TO BE DESTROYED (Post Gazette, August 3, 2023, by Mark Belko) rather than being saved and repurposed to significantly benefit our city’s employment, tourism, film industry, cultural, and associated businesses, while also enhancing the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.

PITTSBURGH CAN SAVE THIS HISTORIC MONUMENT WHILE EMULATING SUCH SUCCESSFUL AND TOURIST ATTRACTIVE CITIES AS NEW YORK, LAS VEGAS, PORTLAND, NEW ORLEANS, SAN FRANCISCO, AUSTIN, AND NASHVILLE!
(THEY ALL HAVE SOMETHING THAT PITTSBURGH DOES NOT – see Castle Courtyard RV Park below)

The West Penn Castle has the potential to be converted into a Historic Hospitality Haven serving guests with services currently not available in our City, but the State has scheduled the Castle for demolition.6

The good news is there is time to Save the Castle because your opinion matters! Please SIGN THE PETITION above and share with others to show your support in preventing its destruction.

This historic site could convert part of the historic former West Penn prison into a hotel and hostel with such fun amenities as giving the keys to the inmate guests; providing free, high security bus service just like in the old days; making provisions for basic, safe food service free of shives; providing an updated security surveillance system, a historic prison library/film room/museum; a public bike rack for a clean get-away down the Trail; allowing solitary confinement for enhanced privacy; having a Warden Manager available to service special requests; and free parking for all unarmed guests.

More seriously, this West Penn Castle could be transformed into a Tourism Mecca with an inner-city RV Resort, currently absent in Pittsburgh, a theme hotel, a historic building and museum attraction, a hostel accommodating bikers at the end of the Great Allegheny Passage and other budget minded visitors, and keep Paramount and the Film Industry in Pittsburgh.

This proposed RV Park could be located within the prison yard walls of the former West Penn site and accommodate 100+ Recreational Vehicle sites, and add enviable, important, inner city hospitality services and benefits to Pittsburgh like the following popular tourist cities currently enjoy:

The 1878 West Penn Castle could transform the original cells into hospitality suites and a hostel overlooking the scenic Ohio River. The Hotel rooms could include comfortable amenities but with historic finishes to maintain the atmosphere of the former facility and give the guests a unique and memorable experience assuming they have previously missed that one in their lives.

Additional space could be converted into individual, private, and secure rooms as overnight births with their own sinks & commodes as a Hostel with common shower room facilities.

Half of the suites could feature River Front Views.

Links to former historic Prisons converted to Hotels:
https://www.theoldmountgambiergaol.com.au/index.aspx
https://hotelandplace.com/hotel/karosta-prison
https://www.simplemost.com/this-historic-jail-was-transformed-into-a-luxury-hotel/
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2009/09/alcatraz-hotel-of-germany-prison-turned.html
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/incoming/gallery/pictures-bridewell-now-8836628

This convenient location is 2 – 3 miles to downtown, the stadiums, the casino, and the science center.

The facility could provide hostel hospitality to thousands of cyclists at the very end of the 335 mile Great Allegheny Passage and Three Rivers Heritage Trail, and provide jitney bus transportation to guests going to the transportation terminals or the northside / downtown / Convention Center / Airport areas.

Tours of the Gothic/Romanesque architecture with a Prison History, Library, and Film Museum could add unique and novel appeal for attracting tourists. Places with historic prison museums that draw tourism include Alcatraz (CA), Sing Sing (NY), Frontier Prison (WY), Eastern State (PA), Ohio State Reformatory, West Virginia Penitentiary, etc.

  1. ECONOMIC TOURIST ACTIVITY: Unique Hospitality Facilities such as Bed & Breakfasts, Air B&B’s, RV Parks, and Historic Hotels and Inns both attract and house tourists promoting increased economic activity for the facilities, businesses, and other commercial activities in the area.
    • “Hotel Indigo … helped to usher in an East Liberty renaissance” (Post Gazette, Mark Belko, 8.4.2022)
    • The historic 1805 Bedford Springs Hotel “reopening has been a game changer. Our main business district in town is flourishing, every type of shop and restaurant you can think of, all local businesses, fill up all of the store fronts. Bedford Springs … has changed the face of the Bedford community and the entire region. In 2019 they brought in over 100,000 visitors.” (Post gazette, Salena Zito, 7.31.2022)
    • Other Historic Hotels in Pgh include the Priory, Mansions on Fifth Hotel, Renaissance on Pgh. Hotel, and the William Penn. The proposed West Penn Castle Hotel would provide comfortable but historic space relating to the former reformatory. This Iconic Gothic former prison has the appeal of a RIVERFRONT CASTLE.
    • In addition to the amazing existing array of features Pittsburgh has to offer, such as cultural events, architecture, culinary pleasures, historical infrastructure, landscape greenery, entertainment and sport events, shopping, etc., the proposed array of new hospitality services at this Gothic Castle would be a draw unto itself. Tourists would be attracted to either registering or just viewing this historic monument. All the unique fun experienced by guests would be passed along to their friends and relatives back home.
  2. ADD TO UNSERVED VISITOR NEEDS – with a RV Park that would now be able to accommodate thousands of new RV Tourists coming to the Convention Center, Sport, Art, Theatre, and Entertainment Events, Trailers for the Film Industry and Other Entertainers, or just RVer’s visiting friends and family.
  3. ADD JOB TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT opportunities to the neighborhood and city through the addition of hospitality, food service, film industry, and additional future enterprises. Tourism accounts for One in every Ten jobs.
  4. COMPLETE PRESERVATION of the 1878-93 historic prison building, courtyard, and Warden’s House as a tourist attraction and Landmark that would bolster Pittsburgh’s reputation as a place to visit.
  5. ATTRACTION OF THE FILM INDUSTRY – By maintaining the complete original historic structures, the Film Industry would have film sets, administrative, storage, and hospitality possibilities all on site. Paramount is currently filming “Mayor of Kingstown”. After one season, Paramount’s Mayor of Kingstown has injected over $90,000,000 into the local economy.7
  6. THREE RIVERS HERITAGE TRAIL – The addition of a Trailhead and conservation management of the riverfront and property will enhance the Waterfront area for all users.
  7. OTHER ECONOMIC BENEFITS – In addition to employment opportunities, a variety of taxes will provide support to city, county, and state via sales taxes, property taxes, employment taxes, and income, business, and hospitality taxes.
  8. COMMONWEALTH OF PA BENEFITS – The recommendation to demolish all structures to make this site “pad ready” would cost the State $49,347,938 over the next 3 years.6 Selling the property with a environmental remediation would save the Commonwealth $30,000,000 – $40,000,000!

Proposed New Site Plan
Proposed New Site Plan

(Your data privacy is important to us. Your data will be sent securely and will not be sold.)

Join the Knighthood:  Every Castle Defender, both man and woman, who signs their support will be influential in preserving this historic property.  If you sign the Petition and wish to provide additional help by encouraging others to sign or promoting in other ways, you could become a member of the White Knights Circle.  We wish to give special thanks to those by providing emailed updates on the progress of the Save the Castle movement and wish to give special thanks based on the eventual outcome.   Know that every time one views the Castle and signs their support, they become a part of it, and be a step closer to Saving the Castle.

For more information, send email to savethecastlepgh@gmail.com

1. Post Gazette 05.14.18 – Remaking Western Penitentiary: It’s huge and historically significant — but what happens next?

2. Post Gazette 09.18.19 – Manchester Bidwell Corp. voids deal to buy SCI-Pittsburgh

3. Post Gazette 09.07.21 – Flipping the Big House: Pennsylvania renewing efforts to sell the closed Western Penitentiary on the North Side

4. Post Gazette 10.24.23 – Old prison’s sentence commuted? New proposal envisions hotel, tourist attraction

5. Western State Penitentiary Historic Resource Survey Form

6. SCI-Pittsburgh Land Use Feasibility Study

7. Post Gazette 02.20.24 – ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ has injected $90M into Western Pa.’s economy to date, Shapiro administration announces