Published: October 09, 2008 09:53 am      

Bank pledges $3M for Pittsburgh arena site

PITTSBURGH — The Bank of New York Mellon will spend $3 million on economic redevelopment in a blighted neighborhood near the Pittsburgh Penguins’ new arena.

Some neighborhood groups opposed the arena unless the predominantly black Hill District nearby got economic development funds as part of the deal. The team and neighborhood groups agreed to that in August, but the money didn’t exist until BONY-Mellon agreed to provide it.

In return, the bank gets a tax credit of 80 percent, or $2.4 million, under a state program.

Activists pushed for the money because a black neighborhood was razed to make room for the Penguins’ current home, Mellon Arena. It was built in 1961, six years before the Penguins franchise existed.

The new $290 million arena opens in 2010.