Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (PCT) is a nonprofit arts organization formed in 1984 to promote economic and cultural development in Downtown Pittsburgh. The "Trust" has focused its work on a 14-square block section called the Cultural District, which comprises numerous entertainment and cultural venues, restaurants, and residential buildings. All together, the organization claims to oversee more than one million square feet of real estate, including commercial and residential buildings, making it one of the largest landowners downtown. In recent years the organization has had a contentious relationship with the city of Pittsburgh concerning the tax status for many of its properties, resulting in a case being heard by the state Supreme Court in 2011.

As of April 2012, the PCT's president and chief executive officer (CEO) is J. Kevin McMahon, and in 2010, its net assets were valued at US$125,096,209.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust was founded in 1984 by H. J. Heinz II with the principal aim of restoring downtown Pittsburgh as a vibrant cultural destination. Heinz and other individuals, including his son, United States (US) Senator from Pennsylvania John Heinz, and William Rea, began with Pittsburgh's first renovated former movie palace, Heinz Hall, (which was built as the former Loew's Penn Theater).

The PCT's first major project was the restoration of the former Stanley Theater. The Stanley Theater was originally designed by the firm of Hoffman & Henon and opened on February 27, 1928. Under the PCT's management, this theater underwent a $43 million restoration and reopened in 1987 as the 2,800-seat Benedum Center for the Performing Arts. That year, the PCT and its partners presented an annual Broadway series in the Cultural District.

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