Monongahela group to tour Sewickley for inspiration
The former home of Edward Goodrich Acheson along West Main Street in Monongahela is a national landmark because it’s the site where Acheson invented carborundum.
The intersection of Main and Third streets in downtown Monongahela
There were no businesses several years ago in downtown Sewickley, a town along the Ohio River that has many similarities to Monongahela.
“They just emptied out,” said Terry Necciai, an architect who promotes Monongahela’s Main Street program.
Necciai said a Main Street program known as Explore Sewickley formed to address the struggling downtown and it recruited investors back to the borough’s empty buildings.
“Right now, they’re all filled up,” said Necciai, who’s hosting a bus trip next month to Sewickley to inspire new thoughts about his hometown, which is experiencing a revitalization, too.
“There are really cool parallels,” Necciai said Thursday.
Monongahela and Sewickley did not grow up around a major industry, and both communities became home to “elite, wealthy” business owners, he said.
Many of the large, grand houses in Monongahela’s Third Ward appear to be nearly identical to those in Sewickley.
“Both towns have easy river access,” Necciai said.
Both towns also have Main streets of similar size.
“There’s a lot to learn,” Necciai said.
The July 16 visit to Sewickley will begin at its farmers’ market and be followed by a walk into the borough’s residential district and to the business district on Beaver Street. At least two residents there agreed to open their homes to the tour group.
The bus will leave Monongahela at 9 a.m. from the 1200 block of Chess Street and return at 6 p.m.
Reservations are due June 30. For more information, contact Necciai at mainstreet15063@gmail.com.