What aims to be a world-class avian conservation center that will revolutionize avian veterinary care and the conservation of threatened and endangered birds around the world is taking flight in Fox Chapel.

Steven Kent Rockwell, a Pittsburgh-based venture capitalist, announced this week that the organization he founded, SK Rockwell Conservancy, plans to purchase Shady Side Academy Middle School on Benedum Road in Fox Chapel and donate the property to the National Aviary.

In addition, the conservancy will donate another $10 million to help fund the programs at what will be called the National Aviary SK Rockwell Conservancy.

“In my opinion, the National Aviary has been an under-recognized asset of our community and our nation. Providing this capital infusion should assist the Aviary in gaining the global recognition it deserves as a magnificent investment for our country to enjoy,” Rockwell said in a statement.

The new conservancy would focus on three core areas:

• A state-of-the-art veterinary teaching hospital dedicated to advancing avian health care.
• A breeding and conservation center for birds with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature status of Threatened, Endangered, Critically Endangered, or Extinct in the Wild.
• An interactive educational center offering programming, field trips and resources for local schools and the broader community.

The project is expected to cost $17 million. More than $7 has been raised, including what’s described as a “generous gift” from Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin to support the veterinary teaching hospital at the conservancy (the school’s gym will be turned into the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Veterinary Teaching Hospital). The Carnegie Museum of Natural History just announced this week that the Kamins had donated $25 million — the largest since the institution was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1895 — to modernize and upgrade the museum’s dinosaur exhibit. This is on top of $65 million the Kamins committed to the  Carnegie Science Center in 2024.

Daniel Kamin and his three sons, Matthew, Michael, and Philip, also are Shady Side Academy alumni.

Rockwell, who grew up in Edgewood and also graduated from Shady Side Academy in 1962, and his partner, Patricia Babyak, announced in 2022 a $15 million commitment to support capital projects in an academy master plan. It was the largest donation in the academy’s history and would help support the building of a new middle school on the main 130-acre school campus in Fox Chapel. Under the master plan, the current middle school is to be sold, which is now going to be the National Aviary SK Rockwell Conservancy.

Rockwell’s success in running several companies has fueled the development of his conservancy foundation, which was established in 2014. It is dedicated to working with others to rehabilitate, preserve and maintain the world’s most precious natural environments and benefit societal humanitarian needs.

The National Aviary venture is expected to close on the property in 2026 and open in 2027. While the facility will offer an array of education programming and conservation activities, it will not be open to the public on a daily basis.

“As part of our Association of Zoos and Aquariums accreditation, we work to maintain and strengthen the populations of at-risk bird species at home and in the wild,” Cheryl Tracy, Aviary executive director said in a statement. “We will now be able to grow these conservation programs, focusing on species deemed at greatest risk for extinction. This project will further elevate Pittsburgh, the Fox Chapel community, and the National Aviary to international status as an avian conservation and health care leader.”