Construction Junction opened it’s doors for the first time on November 12, 1999.
There were 5 transactions that day.
Over the past 19+ years, a lot has happened to get us to where we are today. 2 buildings. 4 box trucks. From 5 employees to more than 30. Along the way, Construction Junction has helped not only in preventing material from ending up in a landfill, but we’ve been able to build some amazing partnerships and create a long lasting impact here in Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania Resources Council (who were instrumental in our creation) held the first hard to recycle and household chemical collection events here. Handmade Arcade held their fledgling events in our warehouse. The Salvo Arts Festival was held right here in 2005. Our Steel City Big Pour fundraiser will return for a 13th year this September. It’s hard to even imagine, but the craft beer scene in 2007 wasn’t exactly a big deal. And no one was telling people in England that Pittsburgh was the only US destination that foodies should plan to visit back then.
Pittsburgh Center For Creative Reuse first opened here in 2009. Free Ride Bicycle Collective started out in a corner of our back warehouse. Grounded used to have its office in what is now our staff break room. Computer Reach moved in. Our Goodwill job training program began in 2013. The ProjectRE_ space (a partnership with CMU’s Urban Design Build Studio and The Trade Institute Of Pittsburgh) was completed in 2015. CMU students have built Solar Decathlon houses here. Juvenile offenders have been given the opportunity to learn and create with the Studio Blue project. To say that the impact of Construction Junction goes well beyond material reuse would certainly be an understatement.
We’ve always received so much feedback from customers and donors about how appreciative they are of our services. Every reuse project submitted for our annual Big Pour contest, featured on our Inspiring Reuse page, or posted to Instagram helps to spread the word about what’s possible when something is given a second use rather than being discarded. We know that there is much more of the story to be told.
What this is really about is all of you – renovating a neglected house to turn it into your family home, being able to start a business and stay within a shoestring budget, helping out a school, church, or a just a neighbor in need of a little assistance – when someone asks us who benefits from Construction Junction, we know the real answer is our community. But we could use your help with some of the details.
We’re looking for people interested in telling us about things they couldn’t have accomplished if Construction Junction wasn’t here. Not just the stuff, but the whole picture. We’re planning on adding some interactive features in the store and at our Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show booth this year to allow anyone interested to be a part of our 20 year celebration. We welcome you to keep an eye out for updates on how your can participate. We also would like some more in-depth testimonials from our supporters. If you or someone you know would like to share their inspiring reuse story, we’d love to hear about it. Drop us a line at info@cjreuse.org.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the last 20 years – This all just isn’t possible without you!
