McKeesport being pushed for ‘Main Street’ makeover

A section of McKeesport’s Fifth Avenue would be the site of a makeover if the city gets selected for an upcoming HGTV project.

By JEFF STITT

[email protected]

McKeesport doesn’t technically have a road named “Main Street,” but it’s a common thing when talking to someone 40 or older from the area to hear tales from yesteryear of its closest thing — Fifth Avenue.

Jonathan Stark, a local property developer, is trying to score a makeover from a national television network for that street and the city.

Conversations about McKeesport’s heyday usually include memories of models and mannequins standing in the windows of the now-demolished Cox’s department store high above the bustling street showing off the fashion of the day, while crowds three or four deep zipped down the sidewalks popping in and out of shops and offices.

HGTV and Ben and Erin Napier, hosts of the “Home Town” series, are on a mission to find one American town for a makeover.

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Monday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.