Five Reasons to See... Armstrong's War FEATURES At our recent WhatsOnStage Outing to Fences, including a post-show Q&A with Lenny Henry and the cast, we were alarmed to discover that only 10% of the audience were familiar with the play's author, the late, great August Wilson. If you're in the 90% of ignoramuses, read this feature by Al Senter and improve your education right now.

August Wilson August Wilson (19452005) has rightly been hailed as "perhaps the greatest American stage poet since Tennessee Williams" and his remarkable body of work demonstrates a scale of ambition and a seriousness of purpose that places him firmly within the ranks of Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. Even if the grand concept of rendering in dramatic form the African-American experience in each of the ten decades of the 20th century was initiated more by accident than design, it remains an extraordinary achievement. Since Wilson devoted himself almost entirely to writing for the stage, the Pittsburgh cycle of ten plays can also be seen as a monument to the power of the theatre to resonate far beyond its physical confines.

Wilson was born in the Hill District of Pittsburgh on 27 April 1945, one of six children of the marriage between Frederick August Kittel, a German immigrant, described as both a baker and a pastry cook, and Daisy Wilson, his African-American wife. The match was not a happy one and it seems to have been Daisy's strength of character that kept the family together. Even as a boy, Wilson showed great independence of mind, and he more or less abandoned his schooling in order to educate himself through the resources of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library, where he read voraciously. He also loved to eavesdrop on the talk he'd hear on the streets of the Hill District and much of the material he absorbed in those days would later be recycled in the plays.

In 1968, Wilson and a friend formed the Black Horizon Theatre in the Hill District where he did some writing and directing on the hoof, but the 1970s seem to have been spent largely in a succession of short-lived jobs. His early ambition to be a poet gave way to a determination to establish himself as a playwright and he did not have to wait long for his talents to be recognised. After his first few plays were rejected by the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre for Playwrights Conference, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, ironically the only play of the cycle to be set away from Pittsburgh, proved to be the breakthrough piece and the next play, Fences, set the seal on Wilson's reputation.

With James Earl Jones as Troy, the ex-baseball player turned garbageman, the play enjoyed a very successful run on Broadway and it picked up a hatful of awards including a Best Play Tony and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1987. In an interview given to the Paris Review in 1999, Wilson explained his intentions towards the mostly white mainstream audience:

"...in Fences, they see a garbageman, a person they don't really look at, although they see a garbageman every day. By looking at Troy's life, white people find out that the content of this black garbageman's life is affected by the same things - love, honour, beauty, betrayal, duty. Recognising that these things are as much part of his life as theirs can affect how they think about and deal with black people in their lives."

If Wilson wished to conduct a dialogue with the dominant culture in America, he was equally, if not more, concerned to have a conversation with the African-American community. In an interview with The New York Times in 2000, he identified his aims:

"I wanted to place this [African-American] culture on stage in all its richness and fullness and to demonstrate its ability to sustain us in all areas of human life and endeavour and through profound moments of our history in which the larger society thought less of us than we have thought for ourselves."

The foundation of the Pittsburgh cycle was laid by chance, as Wilson revealed in one interview. It occurred to him that: "I'd written three plays [set] in three decades so why don't I just continue to do that?"

The plays range in time from Gem of the Ocean, written in 2003 but set in 1904, to Radio Golf, written in 2005 but set in 1997, via Joe Turner's Come and Gone, written in 1984 but set in 1911, and Fences, written in 1983 but set in 1957. The themes Wilson tackled in his plays included the middle passage, the underground railway, the civil rights movement and black nationalism. In the two decades from 1985 to 2005, Wilson collected nearly 30 awards and commendations for his plays, including two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. The critical regard in which his work was held was matched by Broadway's enthusiasm for it, and the productions would arrive in New York after regional try-outs, often in Yale or in Seattle where Wilson eventually settled.

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Features: The August Wilson years: Ten decades, ten plays… including Fences

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The 1,000-foot perimeter safety zone for Saturday's demolition of the Pacific Gas & Electric steam power structures that critically injured a spectator was not large enough, a demolition expert said Sunday.

The early morning implosion of the long-abandoned plant's twin boilers sent steel and concrete debris into a crowd of onlookers 1,000 feet away in the Lowe's parking lot on Coffee Road.

The contractor didn't have a safety zone large enough," said Herb Duane, a consultant for hundreds of demolition and implosion projects around the world. "When you have a strong force and you're knocking down steel, it will shoot out much farther than if you did a regular demolition."

Duane, president of Duane Corp., in North Conway, N.H., said there is no industry standard for a safety zone, but 1,000 to 1,500 feet from the blast is common. The size of the zone is decided by the contractor, he said.

The most seriously injured spectator Saturday was flown to a Fresno hospital where one of his legs was amputated. He had not been publicly identified by late Sunday, although Bakersfield police said he was 43.

The 6 a.m. explosion sent debris across Coffee Road and a canal bordered by two chain-link fences, peppering spectators and vehicles.

Four other people suffered minor injuries.

Duane said similar demolitions usually occur at off hours in order to keep the number of spectators low.

"The less people around the less chance of a problem," he said.

Cleveland Wrecking Co., of Covina, was the prime contractor. Subcontractor Alpha Demolition hired Demtech Inc. to take down the structures.

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Demolition expert says PG&E plant's safety zone wasn't large enough

Published: Monday, August 5, 2013, 7:12p.m. Updated 2 minutes ago

Allen Enterprises & Recycling LLC has filed for bankruptcy.

The business is owned by Rodney Allen of Connellsville, owner of a building currently under demolition at 105-107 W. Crawford Ave. in Connellsville.

Michael C. Gallo, an attorney with an office in Murrysville, filed the Chapter 7 petition last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh.

Gallo said the filing has nothing to do with the company doing the demolition of the Connellsville property.

(The filing) will afford Mr. Allen the opportunity to reorganize Allen Enterprises, Gallo said during a telephone conversation on Monday afternoon. But it won't affect the demolition.

Workers were at the site on Monday afternoon. The section of the building housing the infamous sky toilet has been taken down. The toilet is sitting in the grass next to the demolished section of the structure.

Last week Joshua DeWitt, nephew of Rodney Allen, said the demolition would include all but the first floors of the structures. Plans would call for the refurbishing of the remainder of the buildings and include the installation of a green roof.

Allen was ordered to have the building down by Aug. 7. However, Tom Currey, Connellsville's code and zoning officer said there are no problems with a partial demolition of the structures as long as the amended plans are approved and the demolition of everything except the first floors is completed by Aug. 7.

According to Connellsville's zoning ordinance for commercial buildings along Crawford Avenue, buildings must be at least two stories high or be at least 24 feet high. A single-story structure with a facade reaching that height would be allowed, if approved. Plans must be submitted to the city's planning commission. If approved by the city planning commission, the county must then also approve.

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Demolition continues of Connellsville building

Closed to vehicular traffic for nearly two decades and to pedestrians for at least one, Narberths Rockland Avenue Bridge is finally coming down for real, this time.

Narberth Borough officials announced that some of the preliminary work for demolition of the span over the tracks used by Amtrak and SEPTAs Paoli-Thorndale regional rail line began July 30.

It should be noted, this is a separate project from the long-anticipated replacement of the North Narberth Avenue bridge in Narberth's downtown. Closure of that imporant link to Lower Merion Township for demolition and construction of a new bridge is expected to begin in 2014.

Additional preparatory work for the Rockland Avenue Bridge demolition will continue over the next few weeks, leading up to actual removal of the bridge span during the weekend of Aug. 23-26.

With final work to clean up and restore the approach areas, the project is expected to be completed by Sept. 20.

In an interview, borough manager Bill Martin said work began on time last week and is running on schedule.

The Rockland Avenue Bridge is one of Pennsylvanias many orphan bridges, built by now-defunct agencies such as railway companies. Responsibility for these structures has fallen to the municipalities in which they sit. In the case of the Rockland Avenue bridge, it was determined that that responsibility lies with Narberth Borough.

As long ago as 2009, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission had ordered that the defunct bridge had to come down; demolition was originally projected for the following summer. However, working through the process to determine funding responsibilities and coordinate with Amtrak has pushed the project back to this summer. The good news is that, while Narberth will pay a share of the costs, the great majority of funding for the project will come from state and federal sources.

With the project now about to start, a detailed schedule of work has been announced. To avoid disruption of train service, Martin said some of the work involved in the demolition project will take place during nighttime hours.

Leading up to the work, We had two field meetings on the borough side recently, Martin said. Continued...

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Demolition begins on Narberth's 'orphan' Rockland Avenue Bridge

The explosive demolition of a portion of the vacated Dayton Daily News building and a building next door could come within weeks, city staffers said Monday.

A large student housing development will be built at the former Dayton Daily News site at Fourth and Ludlow streets in a $22 million project. But to make that happen, the modern portion of the newspaper building must be demolished as well as the Schwind building immediately to the north.

Contractor Steve Rauch Inc. plans to use Dykon Explosive Demolition of Tulsa, Okla., to take the buildings down, said Andrew Steele, a fire prevention specialist with the Dayton Fire Department. The department must approve a permit for the demolition, Steele said. The permit application is still being prepared, he said, but he expects to receive it within days. Steele said hell examine it to make certain it meets state requirements regarding the use of explosives in demolitions.

The last time explosives were used to demolish a downtown building was in 1999 when the Lazarus Building was taken down to make way for the Schuster Performing Arts Center.

The demolition is also now being coordinated with the Dayton Police Department and neighboring building owners, Steele said.

The city of Dayton has allocated $755,000 in city development funds to help offset developer Student Suites cost of asbestos removal and demolition of the Schwind Building. Also helping fund the new development is a $1 million pledge from Cox Media Group Ohio, owner of the Dayton Daily News.

As part of that agreement, Student Suites will preserve the small, historic bank-like Dayton Daily News structure, built in 1908 at the corner of Fourth and Ludlow. The bank building and a piece of the Fourth Street faade are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Student Suites officials have said they plan to have the housing complex open in August 2014 for the start of the next school year at Sinclair Community College.

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Demolition of vacated Dayton Daily News building downtown could be this month