Judge expected to approve August Wilson sale deal
PITTSBURGH (AP) – An Allegheny County judge is expected to approve a deal by a consortium of charities to buy Pittsburgh’s August Wilson Center for $8.85 million.
The five-year-old center is named for the late, black Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Pittsburgh native. But it’s been plagued by financial and attendance problems and was scheduled for a Nov. 3 sheriff’s sale to satisfy a $7.9 million mortgage default.
Instead, a coalition of charitable foundations plans to close on the center Oct. 31 and keep it open, but Allegheny County Judge Lawrence O’Toole must first approve terms of the deal Monday.
O’Toole had scheduled a trial to determine whether the charities or a New York developer should be allowed to buy the center to prevent a sheriff’s sale. But the developer, 980 Liberty Partners, withdrew its bid.