PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools has abandoned the idea of acquiring Pittsburgh’s struggling August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

School board member Mark Brentley Sr. had been trying to come up with a plan for the district to take over the center, but he said he was giving up on the effort at a board meeting Thursday night.

The center honoring the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, who grew up in Pittsburgh and is best known for his 10-play cycle that chronicles black life in America, opened to great fanfare in a new 65,000-square-foot building in 2009. But the grand venue for theatre, dance and music was hampered by poor attendance and struggled with budget deficits.