Two Sheds For Steel City

Along with the recent announcement that a shed may rise from the ashes of the old Chevrolet Amphitheatre site in Pittsburgh’s Station Square comes news that another entertainment development in the city is making moves.

Continental Real Estate Cos. is in “preliminary talks” with Toby Keith to bring one of the singer’s “I Love This Bar” dining and concert venues to a planned $12 million entertainment complex near Heinz Field, according to the Post-Gazette.

The complex, which is expected to feature a 5,600-seat amphitheatre, is being developed by both Continental and the Steelers, who asked the state last year for a $4 million grant to help fund the project.

Across the city, Station Square has signed a five-year deal with PNC Entertainment to run its 5,500-seat shed, expected to open in May, the Post-Gazette reported. Drusky Entertainment will reportedly book the venue.

Still, officials didn’t seemed too ruffled by the possibility of dueling sheds in the city.

“We don’t really care about all that,” Continental Chairman Frank Kass told the paper. “We haven’t given any thought to it. This is a whole new indoor-outdoor venue. Over the course of years, the bigger part of the revenue comes from the everyday business it will turn out.”

Station Square GM Rocco Miller agreed, focusing on the impact of reopening an amphitheatre at the location three years after the Chevrolet was dismantled.

“I think we will benefit from this,” he said. “It really was something we felt was very important for us to bring back.”

A representative for the governor’s office told the paper the return of the Station Square shed would not affect the state’s decision-making on the Steelers’ $4 million grant request.