Billy Porter helping to revitalize Pittsburgh's Homewood Coliseum

The arts saved Billy Porter.

Porter wants those dreams for other young people. That’s why he is partnering with Herky and Lisa Pollock and professional cook Rachael Ray on the revitalization of the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum in Homewood, a part of the city near and dear to Porter.

Ray is great friends with Porter and hugely philanthropic, Herky Pollock said.

“Performing arts was my lifeline, my safety net, and my way out,” the Tony award winning Porter said in a statement through the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh concerning the coliseum. “It gave me a sense of purpose and humanity, as well as tools for critical thinking and examining my own life and exposure to an entirely new world. It truly saved my life and enabled me to rise above my circumstances and to excel beyond my wildest dreams.”

“Billy loves Pittsburgh,” said Herky Pollock, known for his vast knowledge and connection to real estate development and projects in the area. “He grew up in Homewood and he wants to help these kids.”

Herky Pollock said they are still working on a name and there isn’t a date set for when the project will be finished. When it is ready it will be comprised of four components. There will be a workforce development program to educate underprivileged children ages 13-18 about camera and theater production, a restaurant training program for those 13-18 years old with a corresponding restaurant, and a roller rink. The fourth piece will house the Billy Porter Foundation. An adjacent building is also part of the project, Herky Pollock said.

Having an active interest in arts in their formative years translates into a higher likelihood of succeeding in life and Porter is representative of the power of the arts, Herky Pollock said.

“With the Pittsburgh Film Office’s strong connection to bringing movies and televisions shows to the city and the studio space at Carrie Furnace in Rankin, these young people will have opportunities to use the skills they learn for future careers,” Herky Pollock said.

Support for the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum — a former Homewood car barn that housed more than 100 streetcars in the 1890s — is also coming from the community and the URA.

According to the URA, redevelopment of the coliseum is essential to anchoring the avenue and to generating long term economic activity for the neighborhood.

It encompasses 1.06 acres along Frankstown Avenue, one of Homewood South’s busiest streets.

The coliseum, one of the last remaining relics of the Homewood streetcar system, drew a flourishing middle class, and by the 1930s Homewood rose to become one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods. In the 1950s, Homewood was a thriving center of African American culture. It has since lost more than 70% of its population, according to the URA.

In July, the URA received a proposal from Herky and Lisa Pollock and Porter with the goal of transforming the facility.

It will be able to provide community gathering, entertainment and employment opportunities, which is in line with what the neighborhood wanted to see for its future, according to the URA.

“For youth in crisis, an opportunity to succeed in life, to add vitality to a struggling community, to activate a site that is a daily reminder of how underprivileged and overlooked communities have been neglected, and to provide a path and a lifeline for a way out of harm’s way all will be trademarks of this development,” Porter said.