OPDC will celebrate the grand opening of our new Career Center on Wednesday, March 13^that 4pm. OPDC secured a long-term lease agreement with the City of Pittsburgh last summer, renovated the building, and relocated our JobLinks and School 2 Career (S2C) programs into it in early fall.

We’ll open the renovated space for tours, refreshments, and the dedication of the JoAnn Fountain Community Room, named in memory of one of Oakland’s most dedicated residents.

The building has sat as an abandoned blight on the community for many years. In reviving the building, OPDC has revitalized an entire block and provided an enhanced facility for our JobLinks and School 2 Career clients.

For JobLinks, the new building’s meeting space people will accommodate job fairs, events for area employers, and for the first time, the ability to offer our Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) classroom trainings on site. For S2C, the move signifies the first dedicated space to call their own since the program began in 1996; it also accommodates recent enrollment increases.

OPDC mobilized approximately 100 volunteers to complete the renovations. Residents and students helped clear out old appliances, scrap metal, and over 60 bags of recycling and 40 bags of garbage from the building. Thanks to Construction Junction for recycling and reusing many of these items!

When we completed the renovation, we partnered with TreeVitalize to plant eight new trees along both sides of the building.

The building is currently a polling location for many Oakland residents; OPDC will continue to make the space available for polling on election days.

Check out the before and after pictures of the building here.