{"id":9877,"date":"2021-03-02T20:21:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T01:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=9877"},"modified":"2021-03-02T20:24:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T01:24:32","slug":"the-day-a-prince-visited-the-mon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2021\/03\/02\/the-day-a-prince-visited-the-mon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"The day a prince visited the Mon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing was clear when Prince Charles of Great Britain stepped off a sleek twin-engine business jet at Pittsburgh International Airport around 11:20 a.m. Friday, March 4, 1988. Large snowflakes drifted down and settled on Charles\u2019 wavy brown hair. The prince apologized for being late, but\u00a0the weather was to blame. After a brief ceremony with local dignitaries, he climbed into a chauffeured Rolls Royce and cruised in a multi-car caravan down the Parkway West, enroute to Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

The prince had heard about the spectacular view as his vehicle emerged from the northeast end of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, but a thick fog ruined the experience. It was no better on Mount Washington. Holding a black umbrella to ward off a snow squall, Charles stood on an overlook that offered only a vague outline of Pittsburgh\u2019s skyline.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A snow squall and fog obstruct the view of Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington during Prince Charles’ visit. (Andy Starnes\/The Pittsburgh Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou should have been here yesterday,\u201d someone said to him.<\/p>\n

Things were similarly murky in the town of Homestead. The bitterly cold wind cut through empty steel sheds where workers once earned enough money to buy homes in the suburbs and send their kids to college. The U.S. Steel Homestead Works, closed two years earlier, loomed over the town like a giant corpse. People still traumatized by the mill’s death wrestled over what to do \u2014 try shocking the corpse back to life or haul it away in pieces and encourage new life on the site?<\/p>\n

The issue deeply interested Prince Charles. He\u2019d become something of an architectural critic. His concern about the built environment and its impact on individuals and communities lured him to Pittsburgh. Here, he was scheduled to address a gathering of architects, academics and others debating ways in which cities and towns could best respond to the brutal realities of post-industrial life.<\/p>\n

Those realities were on stark display in devastated Mon Valley towns like Homestead, Braddock, Duquesne and McKeesport.\u00a0In the days before the prince\u2019s visit, a group of British and American architects studied those towns and delivered a report suggesting several ideas. A proposal to create a \u201cgarden festival\u201d on Homestead\u2019s mill site generated the most talk. \u201cIt\u2019s the greening of industrial America,\u201d a British architect declared. Other ideas included turning the Homestead riverbank into an esplanade with docks for yachts and converting the Carrie Blast Furnaces across the Monongahela River into a museum.<\/p>\n

The proposals intrigued those who believed the mills were gone for good. Others were aghast. They wanted to reopen parts of the Homestead facility and bring back\u00a0 jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the steel-making capital of the world, and they were talking about flowers,\u201d one former steel worker said later. \u201cWe wanted to get back to steel making.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Pittsburgh, the prince\u2019s Rolls Royce motored down from Mount Washington and stopped in front of the swanky Duquesne Club. Inside, dozens of people gathered in a dining room for a special lunch. One was 39-year-old George DeBolt, owner of a Homestead bus company. Noticing a bit of activity near the room\u2019s entrance, he turned and asked, \u201cHey, excuse me, isn\u2019t that Prince Charles?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Prince
Prince Charles is greeted by Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguiri during the visit to Mt. Washington. (Randy Olson\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mary
Mary Blum of Monroeville waves the Union Jack at the Royal Rolls Royce.(Andy Starnes\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Workers
Workers at the Duquesne Club anxiously await the arrival of Prince Charles. (John Kaplan\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Prince
Prince Charles waves from his Rolls Royce as it rolls past Fifth Avenue and Wood Street after leaving the Duquesne Club. (Robert J. Pavuchak\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

\u201cHe just kind of nonchalantly walks in,\u201d DeBolt recalled three decades later. \u201cAnd then the buzz goes around the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

After lunch, one of the prince\u2019s handlers approached DeBolt.\u00a0\u201cFollow me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The man walked DeBolt outside to the prince\u2019s Rolls Royce and directed him to take a seat in the back. Minutes later, Charles exited the club and slid in next to DeBolt, The vehicle drove off, past waving crowds, and soon the royal caravan was headed down the Parkway East.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, here I am in the Rolls Royce, with Prince Charles in the backseat with me,\u201d DeBolt said.<\/p>\n

He was chosen as a guide because the prince promoted the idea that people who live in communities should decide how those communities develop. DeBolt\u2019s ties to Homestead ran deep \u2014\u00a0his grandfather was a steelworker caught up in the strike of 1892, and the family\u2019s transportation business dated to the early 1900s.<\/p>\n

The caravan exited by the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and drove through Swissvale. On the right, the prince saw an oddly shaped two-story brick building with a sign reading, \u201cTriangle Bar & Grill, Destroyers and Battleships.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are battleships and destroyers?\u201d asked the prince, who had served in the Royal Navy.<\/p>\n

DeBolt explained that they were big hoagies.<\/p>\n

The caravan rolled on, through Rankin, Braddock, Munhall and Homestead. DeBolt and the prince discussed economic development and the importance of getting individuals involved in the process. Charles wondered why the region\u2019s problems had been ignored for so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized this guy was really engaged, was really concerned about these industrial towns. And no one had this impression of him in the United States. He was just this playboy. He was Diana’s husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
George DeBolt, left, accompanies Prince Charles outside the Bishop Boyle Center. (Tom Ondrey\/The Pittsburgh Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At one point, the prince asked DeBolt if there was something he should include in his address the next day at the Remaking Cities Conference at the Benedum Center in Downtown. \u201cThe Carrie Furnace,\u201d DeBolt replied. Production at the historic blast furnaces had ceased in 1982 and some people were rallying to save what remained of the facility as a museum.<\/p>\n

The Rolls Royce stopped at Homestead\u2019s Bishop Boyle Center, where the prince reviewed the report compiled by British and American architects and chatted briefly with five Duquesne High School students who\u2019d come up with a proposal for the mill site.\u00a0One of those students holds vague memories of the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all pretty nervous to meet the prince,\u201d said\u00a0Heather Bradford (she was Heather Chepanosky then).<\/p>\n

Charles, whom she remembered as polite and soft-spoken,\u00a0asked if any of the students\u2019 parents had worked in the mills. She told him that her father had been laid off in 1982 from the National Tube Works in McKeesport. He eventually found work as a security guard at Thrift Drugs.<\/p>\n

The prince was sympathetic. Finding work in the Mon Valley must be difficult, he said.<\/p>\n

Moments later, the royal caravan climbed West Street and headed to Steel Valley High School. A marching band played in the parking lot. Inside the school lobby, kindergartener Laura Greenhow stared up at school administrators, board members and high school students. She was the shortest person in the room.<\/p>\n

Laura and a few other grade schoolers from nearby Franklin Elementary School had been chosen to meet the prince. She\u2019d spent the morning obsessing over the new pink-and-white striped dress she wore. A pink bow blossomed from her blonde hair, fashioned in a chin-length bob.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was 5 and cold and in a very beautiful dress,\u201d recalled Greenhow, now Laura Bransfield and living in Wilmington, N.C . \u201cIt was pretty overwhelming for a 5-year-old.\u201d<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t recall her interactions with the tall prince. \u201cMy mom said she thinks he did shake my hand but I don\u2019t know if I remember that part. He was just kind of walking through the lobby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charles wanted to see the high school\u2019s \u201cOffice of the Future,\u201d a computer lab on the second floor where students learned skills they\u2019d need in an economy devoid of steelmaking jobs.<\/p>\n

\"Prince
Prince Charles gestures toward an aerial photograph of the Mon Valley during his tour of the Bishop Boyle Center in Homestead. (Tom Ondrey\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"The
The Prince chats with students from Duquesne HighSchool. (Tom Ondrey\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Prince
Prince Charles meets elementary school students at Steel Valley High School. (Gary Tramontina\/Associated Press) #princecharlesvisit <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Security was tight. Students and teachers throughout the school were told to stay in their classrooms during the visit. Metal gates blocked access to hallways where the prince walked. Student lockers along his route had been emptied.<\/p>\n

Andy Vettel, a teacher in the Office of the Future, lost track of time and wasn\u2019t in place when the prince arrived.\u00a0To avoid blocked hallways, he hustled up a back stairway and through the school\u2019s library. He emerged from a door near his classroom, alarming tense security personnel. Fellow teacher Maureen Gemeinhart called out to them, \u201cHe\u2019s OK, he\u2019s with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe saved my life,\u201d Vettel later joked.<\/p>\n

The two teachers and several students lined up to wait for the prince. They\u2019d been given instructions on how to greet British royalty. \u201cDon\u2019t extend your hand,\u201d they were told. \u201cBut you don\u2019t have to bow or curtsy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the Prince walked down the line of students and teachers and offered his hand. Gemeinhart was last in line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this hasn\u2019t been too much trouble,\u201d Charles said to her.<\/p>\n

The prince stayed 30 minutes or so, talking with students who showed off their work. He asked one student about her physics class. He told her he never understood physics; she replied she didn\u2019t either. Like so many others, Vettel and Gemeinhart described the prince as gracious and unassuming.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy you\u2019d want to sit down and have a meal and a drink with,\u201d Vettel recalled.<\/p>\n

As he exited the classroom, Charles saw a group of students behind steel gates, struggling to catch a glimpse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are those students walled off?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Without waiting for an answer, he walked up to the steel gate and spent a few minutes chatting with the students.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/a>
Prince Charles gets a tour of the \u201cOffice of the Future\u201d by teacher Maureen Gemeinhart at Steel Valley High School. At right is teacher Andy Vettel. (Photo courtesy of Maureen Gemeinhart)
#princecharlesvisit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Charles spent the evening at a Downtown hotel. At his speech the next day at the Remaking Cities Conference, he urged attendees to support efforts to involve citizens in the design and development of their communities. As DeBolt had requested, the prince advocated preservation of the Carrie Furnace.<\/p>\n

Before leaving, Charles expressed his disappointment at being robbed of the spectacular view of Downtown from the Fort Pitt Tunnel. He had decided, he said, to remedy the situation by leaving the city backward.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo don\u2019t be alarmed if you see me reversing out of the city,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a technical malfunction of a Rolls Royce, but purely my desire to see Pittsburgh properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the three decades since Charles\u2019 visit, the Homestead mill site has experienced dramatic changes. Where steelworkers once made rails for railroads, armor plate and beams for skyscrapers and bridges, people at The Waterfront play arcade games, order up food items ranging from bagels to sushi, shop for groceries and clothing, attend movies, learn to throw an axe and work in offices. Luxury apartments line the riverfront.<\/p>\n

Debolt wishes the site had been used for residential housing, like the Summerset at Frick Park development on the edge of Squirrel Hill. \u201cYou would have all these people living in Homestead with a stake in the community,\u201d he said. \u201cThat would have been the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/a>
George DeBolt today. (Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Carrie Furnace received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Today, it looms over the northeast shore of the Monongahela River as a reminder of the industry that once dominated the region.<\/p>\n

When DeBolt was approached about serving as a royal guide in 1988, someone told him that the experience would mark him for life. He\u2019s found that to be true.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople still say to me, \u2018Hey, aren\u2019t you the guy who took the Prince around?\u2019 Now see, that was over 30 years ago. But people still remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Mellon: smellon@post-gazette.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette Nothing was clear when Prince Charles of Great Britain stepped off a…<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe day a prince visited the Mon Valley<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066,1368],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/web19880304PrinceCharles02.jpg?fit=2000%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2631,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/16\/the-monongahela-house-was-in-its-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":9877,"position":0},"title":"The Monongahela House","date":"August 16, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This is where Pittsburgh house where President-elect Abraham Lincoln stayed.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tumblr_m8prmmwQJT1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C871&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2147,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/11\/may-2-1932-the-trial-of-pittsburgh-mayor\/","url_meta":{"origin":9877,"position":1},"title":"The trial of Pittsburgh Mayor Charles Kline","date":"January 11, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Charles Kline (he\u2019s the one smoking the cigarette) can be remembered for many things.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-17-at-12.04.12-AM.png?fit=1200%2C571&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2079,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/06\/pittsburgh-welcomes-charles-lindbergh-greatest-of-all-flying-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":9877,"position":2},"title":"Pittsburgh welcomes Charles Lindbergh, “greatest of all flying men”","date":"February 6, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In the surviving photographs, we see glimpses of a city and a man coming of age.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mhggjyehIl1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C713&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1130,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/12\/16\/czar-of-pittsburgh-police\/","url_meta":{"origin":9877,"position":3},"title":"Czar of Pittsburgh Police","date":"December 16, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Nate Harper? 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