BC3 conservancy has bright future
The Succop Conservancy has a future ahead of it.
Tom and Jo Ann Succop donated their PennTownship estate to the Butler County Community College Educational Foundation in July 2001.
The 50 acres along Airport Road and Route 8 is being restored by the college to become a facility for academic classes and a place to educate people about the environment.
The estate was once a working farm and includes a main house, cottage, barn, garage, chicken coop, woods, meadows, wetlands and two ponds.
The land first belonged to John Maharg, an Irish immigrant.A. Craig and Margaret Succop bought the estate from Margaret Succop's father, T.W. Phillips Jr., in 1935 and raised Tom Succop there. The Succops made improvements to the house such as indoor plumbing and additional wings.After the death of his parents in 1996, Tom Succop moved to the home with his wife and became involved with the college.When the Succops decided to return to Pittsburgh, they donated the land to the college's Educational Foundation to ensure it remained undeveloped."My wife and I are still interested in education," said Tom Succop, now of the Shady Side section of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the foundation board.The foundation's first project on the estate was to improve the driveway to the main house. After that, the parking lot and electrical works were redone.Now, the foundation is focused on turning the barn into a classroom and a gathering space.Tom Succop said one barn will be adapted for year-round use and one barn will be used in the warmer seasons. The interior of the barn is wood timbers and the barn is original to the estate.When the project was beginning, Bill Spiedel, executive director of the foundation, said he expected a gift shop and a large space for dance classes and other large gatherings to be on the bottom floor of the barn.The barn will be updated with energy-saving "green building" principals, he said.
