National Park Service Approves PHLF’s Downtown Districts Project

The National Park Service certified in May the nominations of the Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District and boundary increase and additional documentation for the Firstside, Fourth Avenue, and Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic Districts for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. PHLF, with the assistance of Laura C. Ricketts, Architectural Historian with Skelly and Loy, Inc., prepared the nominations, thanks to funding from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC), The Anne L. and George H. Clapp Charitable and Educational Trust, Millcraft Investments, Inc., and other developers and property owners.

The result is that 100 more buildings, sites, and structures in downtown Pittsburgh are now listed on the National Register! The City’s Historic Preservation plan recommended that additional listings on the National Register should be pursued, and PHLF is happy to have helped advance that goal.

Bill Callahan, Western PA Community Preservation Coordinator for PHMC said, “This was just an amazing project . . . . My colleagues in Harrisburg have been promoting the PHLF/City partnership on this project as a model for other cities and communities. These new designations will yield preservation benefits for Pittsburgh for years to come.

Listing on the National Register does not place any restrictions on a property owner unless a federal undertaking is involved, but provides owners with possible federal tax incentives, such as the 20% rehabilitation tax credit and a charitable contribution deduction for a preservation easement donation (See Historic Designations in Pittsburgh: A Primer at https://phlf.org/2011/07/01/phlf-primer-on-historic-designations-in-pittsburgh/).

Additional National Register Listings

PHLF is also pleased to announce additional certifications of listing on the National Register of Historic Places for the following:

• Penn-Liberty Historic District Additional Documentation and Boundary Increase, Downtown (prepared by Urban Design Ventures, LLC and Powers & Company, Inc.)
• August Wilson House, Hill District (prepared by Jeff Slack, Pfaffmann + Associates, PC)
• Pittsburgh Terminal Warehouse and Transfer Company, South Side (Skelly and Loy, Inc.)