Nonprofit Takes Title to Aspinwall Marina
Aspimwall Herald
12 October 2011
By Mary Ann Thomas
After area residents netted $2.3 million in a whirlwind, six-month
fundraising campaign, the nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront now
is the owner of Aspinwall Marina.
Susan Crookston, the borough resident who spearheaded the purchase
of the 8-acre marina along the Allegheny River to turn it into a
waterfront park, confirmed the sale on Tuesday. The real -estate
deal closed on Thursday and Friday, according to Crookston and
David Kushon, now the former marina owner.
"It's really incredible the fact that people from every walk of
life came together to make this happen," Crookston said. "We have
so many people to be grateful to."
From lemonade stands to country club soirees to foundation
appeals, area residents pushed to raise money to buy the marina --
the only available piece of waterfront property in the borough.
Crookston started planning for the purchase in September after she
learned that UPMC St. Margaret wanted to buy the marina, which had
been on the market, to turn it into a parking lot.
She spent months planning and approached the Friends of the
Riverfront to serve as the agent for the property deal.
Among a slew of foundations and residents in the Fox Chapel Area
School District who helped raise the $2.3 million, Crookston
credits the Fox Chapel District Association as giving the critical
$50,000 donation early in the campaign for the hand money needed
for the purchase agreement.
Currently, the marina is not open to the public. Marina operations
continue with signed leases for winter storage and the 2012
boating season, according Kushon, whose family has owned the
marina for decades.
Crookston and others are working on plans to develop the site into
a park.
"I'm very proud to say that my family has been part of this
community and hopefully we can have a legacy in their park,"
Kushon said.
Mary Ann Thomas can be reached at mthomas@tribweb.com or
412-782-2121 x1510.