Category Archive: Historic Properties
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Former Turtle Creek High School’s Architecture, Importance Honored
By Tom Fontaine
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 15, 2010
On Saturday, officials will unveil two historical markers that commemorate the former Turtle Creek High School building's architectural significance and role in the community. Officials debated about demolishing the building five years ago, but a group led by former graduates Jill Hinkle, Bob Mock, Jeanne Flaherty and Connie Morenzi led vocal opposition. The Classical Revival-style, cream-colored brick building with stone and terra cotta trim was designed by Pittsburgh architect George Henry Schwan. Jasmine Goldband | Tribune-Review
The former Turtle Creek High School building has gone by several names and narrowly avoided the wrecking ball to remain a community centerpiece since opening during World War I.
On Saturday, officials will unveil two historical markers that commemorate the Monroeville Avenue building’s architectural significance and role in the community.
Although the markers were installed last week, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places three years ago and received historic designation last fall from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“It basically validates what people in Turtle Creek have felt all along,” said councilwoman Jill Henkel of the markers. Henkel is a 1978 graduate of the former Turtle Creek High School and one of four Turtle Creek natives who led a push to obtain historical designation for the building.
Ground was broken on the $200,000 building in August 1917, and it opened in February 1919 as Union High School, with students from Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, East Pittsburgh and parts of nine other communities, according to documents related to the National Register of Historic Places designation.
The Classical Revival-style, cream-colored brick building with stone and terra cotta trim was designed by Pittsburgh architect George Henry Schwan. He also designed the Twentieth Century Club’s original building in Oakland, the former Oakmont High School and laid out plans for factory-worker developments in Aliquippa and Akron, Ohio.
The building wasn’t home to just high school classes.
Westinghouse employees trained at night in classrooms and vocational shops. Women used school sewing machines after hours to earn money during the Great Depression. And the school’s large lawn provided “the only open green space in the borough,” Henkel said.
“Even today, people are always playing in it,” Henkel said of the lawn. “It’s basically a community park.”
The school would hit a peak enrollment of more than 2,100 students in the 1930s. Also in that decade, after East Pittsburgh and Wilmerding opened their own high schools, Union’s name was changed to Turtle Creek High School. In 1940, the school graduated just 365 students.
When Turtle Creek became part of the newly created Woodland Hills School District in the 1980s, the building became the new district’s East Junior High. Officials debated about demolishing the building five years ago, but a group led by former graduates Hinkle, Bob Mock, Jeanne Flaherty and Connie Morenzi led vocal opposition.
Ultimately, the district moved East Junior High students elsewhere and mothballed the Turtle Creek building for the 2008-09 school year; it reopened last August, housing the district’s new Woodland Hills Academy for elementary students.
“I would have laid down in front of the bulldozer if they tried to tear down the building,” said Mock, a 1968 graduate.
The unveiling of the marker, part of Turtle Creek Community Days festivities, begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at 126 Monroeville Ave.
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Greening the South Side: Residents Plant Nearly Two Dozen Street Trees
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
South Side Tree Planting Program
South Side will begin to look greener in the spring thanks to Kim Collins.
Back in March, she and a friend were talking over wine one night, trying to think of something they could do in their community. “And we came up with trees,” says Collins. “I live on Wharton Street and there was, like, one tree on my block.”
Collins, who is the owner and creative director of South Side-based graphic design firm Blue Tomato, worked to create the South Side Pittsburgh Tree Project with the help of neighbors and nearly 45 volunteers.
In October, they planted 21 trees ranging from maples to lilacs on the 1900 block of Wharton Street.
To start the project, Collins researched and found the TreeVitalize program, a partnership between five organizations including the city, county and state and two nonprofits, including the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The goal of the program, according to its website, is to “plant 20,000 trees by 2012 throughout the Pittsburgh region in order to improve quality of life and the environment.”
Once assisted by TreeVitalize, Collins and other leaders went door-to-door asking residents if they would water and take care of trees if the South Side Pittsburgh Tree Project took care of planting. Twenty-one residents agreed to this arrangement for the first planting.
Riverset Credit Union aided the project by paying for the website and marketing, as well as a banner on Sarah and 11th Streets that asks, “Want A Free Tree?”
The South Side Pittsburgh Tree Project wants add at least 300 to 400 more trees in the South Side over the next four years.
Currently, 4,500 trees have been planted in Allegheny County through TreeVitalize.
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Writer: Pop City Staff
Source: Kim Collins, South Side Pittsburgh Tree ProjectImage courtesy of South Side Pittsburgh Tree Project
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Macy’s Puts Historic Downtown Building Up For Sale
By Kim Leonard and Sam Spatter, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The clock outside the Macy's store has lasted longer than the name above the door of the Downtown fixture, which in 1885 became home to a store doing business as Kaufmann Brothers. Justin Merriman | Tribune-Review
Macy’s is putting its historic, 13-story Downtown store on the selling block, with plans to lease back part of the space.
The department store chain didn’t name an asking price for the landmark that fills a block on Smithfield Street, between Forbes and Fifth avenues. Macy’s retail operations fill 10 floors, and offices are on part of a separate floor.
Macy’s Inc. has been considering its options for the Downtown building — which was the flagship store of Kaufmann’s for most of its history — during the past year or two, spokesman Jim Sluzewski said Wednesday.
“Our initial goal is to sell the building, and then lease back the space we need for a store and offices,” he said. If that can’t be done, Macy’s could find tenants for unused or now-underused space in the building, he said.
Sluzewski said the amount of space Macy’s retains in the building will “depend on discussions with a potential buyer.”
Commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley of St. Louis is marketing the store, which has 750,000 square feet of space, nearly 14 football fields.
Macy’s is jumping into the Downtown real estate market at a time when other major buildings also are for sale — Gateway Center, the Henry W. Oliver Building, EQT Tower, the Regional Enterprise Center and the Red Cross Building.
“The Downtown Pittsburgh market is extremely active now and is attracting a lot of interest,” said Pat Sentner, a principal with real estate firm NAI Pittsburgh Commercial.
The department store chain’s intent to lease part of the building makes it attractive to buyers, he said. But what’s important is how much space the retailer wants, and for how long, he said.
“If 75 percent or more of the building is part of the leaseback arrangement, that could attract an institutional type of investor” such as an investment group or foundation, Sentner said. If Macy’s wants half the space or less, a corporation or law firm might want to buy the building and use most of it for offices, he said.
Preserving the store in some form is key to keeping Downtown healthy and vibrant, observers said.
“It’s important to keep Macy’s Downtown and continue it as a retailer of excellent merchandise,” said Mike Edwards, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. “I’ve seen it in other cities. Department store owners are retailers who don’t want to own real estate.”
Retail expert C. Britt Beemer said Macy’s closed stores in several downtown areas in recent years. “Pittsburgh is fortunate to have one, and it’s good to maintain downtown stores — they have a history and a sense of integrity.”
“Department stores used to be major property owners in many cities. Now they’re mainly tenants in malls and shopping centers,” said Beemer of America’s Research Group in Charleston, S.C.
Cincinnati-based Macy’s owns 469 of its 850 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores. Spokesman Sluzewski said Macy’s always is looking to maximize its use of space in stores. The company maintains many downtown stores, he said, citing 15 other examples.
Patricia Edwards of Storehouse Partners LLC in Seattle said department store chains, especially in the rough economy of recent years, “are really trying to make sure each individual store is profitable, as opposed to just the chain itself.”
In September 2006, Macy’s kicked off its new presence Downtown and elsewhere in the region with a block party on Smithfield Street. It promised to keep the landmark corner clock at Smithfield and Fifth, the Tic Toc restaurant on the first floor, holiday events and other favorite Kaufmann’s features.
Still, Duquesne University marketing professor Audrey Guskey said shoppers in the region gave Macy’s a lukewarm reception.
“A lot of people were disappointed in the quality of merchandise, the service and the hours,” she said. “Also, Macy’s goal was to become a national department store, and they were very cookie-cutter — the Pittsburgh stores were like Cleveland, L.A. and Chicago.” Macy’s since then has been tailoring merchandise to various regions’ tastes, Guskey added.
In the past three decades, Downtown has lost four department stores, including a Lord and Taylor department store next to the Macy’s building.
Macy’s sales nationwide last year totaled $23.5 billion, down 5.6 percent from 2008. The company’s profit was $350 million, after a $4.8 billion loss in 2008.
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Key dates:• 1877: Brothers Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann open a four-story store at Smithfield Street and what now is Forbes
Avenue, moving their tailoring business from the South Side.
• 1885: Store becomes Kaufmann Brothers, filling a block between Forbes and Fifth avenues.
• 1913: Another expansion brings the store to 12 stories.
• 1946: May Department Stores Inc. acquires Kaufmann’s.
• 1955: A 10-story addition on the store’s Fifth Avenue side is built, along with a parking garage.
• 2002: May closes Kaufmann’s headquarters on the Downtown store’s upper floors. About 1,200 jobs are lost.
• 2005: Macy’s parent, Federated Department Stores Inc., buys May company.
• 2006: Kaufmann’s and department stores in other cities that were part of May are changed to the Macy’s name.
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Fallingwater Cottage Designs on Display at Carnegie
By Kurt Shaw, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The jury chose the entry of Patkau Architects as the winner of this first-ever design competition. Their design shows that the juxtaposition of the project to Fallingwater is not as important as the juxtaposition of the project to the landscape, being that it proposes building the cabins into the rolling hillside. Patkau Architects
Located in Mill Run, just 90 minutes by car southeast of Pittsburgh, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater is an icon of 20th-century architecture that draws approximately 150,000 admirers from around the world, all year long.
Built between 1936 and 1939 for the Kaufmann family — owners of the Pittsburgh department store — it was intended to be a second home, a vacation retreat deep in the woods, hovering above a small waterfall in Bear Run.
Today it stands alone, as it did in 1963, when Edgar Kaufmann Jr. transferred ownership of the house and landscape to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. But imagine, if you will, what it would be like if the surrounding Bear Run Nature Reserve, which has grown to 5,061 acres, were filled with cabins, like the countless other cabin-filled enclaves located throughout Western Pennsylvania?
As Fallingwater reaches its 75th anniversary, the conservancy decided to answer that question by inviting six architectural practices — three from the United States and three from Canada — to design cottages for a site a short distance from the main house.
All six proposals are currently on display at Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art in the exhibit “Design Competition: New Cottages at Fallingwater.”
The second-place winner was Wendell Burnette Architects. Their proposal would be above ground, but integrated nonetheless among the forest. Wendell Burnette Architects
The participating firms, each known for environmental sensitivity, are Marlon Blackwell Architect, Fayetteville, Ark.; Wendell Burnette Architects, Phoenix, Ariz.; MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Olson Kundig Architects, Seattle, Wash.; Patkau Architects, Vancouver, British Columbia; and Saucier + Perrotte Architectes, Montreal, Quebec
Each practice was allowed four 24-inch-by-36-inch boards and one model representing a typical cottage unit. The firms were encouraged to give their own unique spin on it, with the additional goal of creating a sustainable design.
Intended to house students and/or teachers during onsite residency programs, the structures were planned to be LEED-certified platinum, which is energy efficient, site sensitive and low-maintenance. All of this in a tidy little package of about 700 square feet, including a small kitchen, open space with a fireplace and a bathroom.
“The architects were challenged to critically engage Wright’s formidable legacy and to address contemporary concerns regarding ecology and sense of place,” says Raymund Ryan, curator of architecture at the Heinz Architectural Center, and one of eight members of the competition jury.
The jury chose the entry of Patkau Architects as the winner of this first-ever design competition. Their model is located in the center of the exhibit.
Established in 1978, the firm has built many houses, schools and cultural institutions in British Columbia, structures characterized by articulate detailing, sheltering roofs and close attention to site.
Across Canada, Patkau Architects also are responsible for the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario, and the Grande Bibliotheque de Quebec in Montreal. For Fallingwater, they envisage sections of standard steel covered in fill, as “an intensification of the swelling ground-plane of the meadow.”
Here, their design shows that the juxtaposition of the project to Fallingwater is not as important as the juxtaposition of the project to the landscape, being that it proposes building the cabins into the rolling hillside. “It is of the hill, not on the hill,” Ryan says.
At first glance, it appears to be the most simple of all six on display. But look closer, and it’s easy to see why this proposal stood out for the jurors. It could be one or two units or even eight or nine. It is a natural system and has a collective quality.
“It appears simple but is well-integrated and thoughtful,” Ryan says. “It will be a fantastic, unique experience inside.”
The second-place winner was Wendell Burnette Architects. Their proposal would be above ground, but integrated nonetheless among the forest.
Like the Patkau design, the basic design could be expanded into multiple units. “Each cottage would be quiet, modest, but important in its conversation with nature,” Ryan says. “The architecture is not deferential, but respectful.”
The design of Olson Kundig Architects was chosen as the third-place winner.
Highlighting two aspects of the landscape surrounding Fallingwater — the forests and the fields — the project considers flow of people as well as the flow of land. “The unit is a response to how people gather and suggests how landscapes can be gathered and bridged,” Ryan says.
All three of these designs incorporate the use of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building materials. Each of these cottages would be situated to take full advantage of natural heating and cooling opportunities and to minimize environmental impacts. Plus, each could be easily maintained during three seasons and just as easily closed over the winter.
Patkau Architects’ winning design for six small, efficient, sustainable cottages will serve as the basis of a final design, to be implemented following regulatory approval and fundraising.
These new cottages will serve an important outreach goal by expanding lodging capacity for participants in Fallingwater Institute’s diverse educational programs.
‘Design Competition: New Cottages at Fallingwater’When: Through Aug. 22. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; until 8 p.m. Thursdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays
Admission: $15; $12 for senior citizens; $11 for children and students; free for age 2 and younger
Where: Heinz Architectural Center at Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland
Details: 412-622-3131 or website
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Historic Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End Awaits New Life
By Tony LaRussa
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Old Stone Tavern is believed to have served as a tollhouse and frontier trading post. It likely played a role in the Whiskey Rebellion, the late 18th-century uprising against a federal excise tax on liquor. Joe Appel | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
It’s hard to see the building at the crossroads of Greentree Road and Woodville Avenue in the West End as anything but just another of the city’s many aged, vacant properties waiting for its date with a wrecking ball.
But some people are looking beyond the broken windows, peeling siding and thick ivy snaking up the sides. They see a gem.
Late last year, city officials ensured that whatever the future holds for the centuries-old building known as the Old Stone Tavern, its designation as a historic structure will prevent it from being torn down. The Historic Review Commission must give permission before an owner can alter its exterior.
Research done during the historic designation nominating process points to the likelihood that the tavern is the region’s second-oldest building, behind the Fort Pitt Blockhouse built in 1764 in what is now Point State Park.
This is the bar area of the Old Stone Tavern in the West End, which was designated a historic structure last year, protecting it from destruction. Joe Appel | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“It’s almost certainly the oldest commercial structure in the region,” said Michael Shealey, an architect who conducted much of the research.
The Old Stone Tavern is located at a bend in what was the historic Washington and Pittsburgh Turnpike, a toll road connecting Pittsburgh to Washington County and National Road. It is believed to have served as a tollhouse and frontier trading post and likely played a role in the Whiskey Rebellion, the late 18th-century uprising against a federal excise tax on liquor.
Despite the 1752 date chiseled into a cornerstone, evidence points to the structure’s construction in the early 1780s, Shealey said.
“We always knew it was very old, but never imagined it dated back as far as it apparently does,” said Norene Beatty, who testified at a public hearing in support of the historic designation. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see it restored and used as a rustic tavern like you would find in Colonial Williamsburg?”
An apparently original fireplace has been uncovered at the Old Stone Tavern at the crossroads of Greentree Road and Woodville Avenue in the West End. The structure is believed to be the second oldest in the City of Pittsburgh. Joe Appel | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Yet even though historic designation protects the building, it does not require someone to restore it.
Historic buildings can qualify for state and federal grants and tax credits, but the best hope for restoration lies in identifying a commercial use for the property, said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which supported the nomination.
“Protecting the building was an important first step,” said Ziegler.
Diana Poliziani of Crafton Heights, whose family has owned businesses in the West End for 50 years, hopes the building is “put to good use.”
“I think the business district is going to explode in the next couple of years, and a historic building like that should be part of what happens,” she said.
John DiSantis, a former Historic Review Commission member who nominated the building for historic designation, said its preservation is important to the fabric of the community.
“When you’re talking about something this old, it really doesn’t matter how long it takes before something is done with it,” he said. “The key to me is that what exists now has been preserved.”
Lee Harris bought the old tavern last year, intending to tear it down to expand the adjacent masonry business started by his father.
“I knew it was one of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood, but I didn’t really know it had such historic significance,” he said.
Harris said that although people who pushed for the historic designation “were well-meaning,” it made doing business during a sour economy that much more difficult.
“I bought the place because I needed more space,” he said. “Now that I can’t tear it down, it’s really not much use to me.”
Harris didn’t fight the historic designation, took steps to keep the building from deteriorating further, and provided access to those interested in studying the structure. He estimates it would cost $250,000 to $500,000 to restore the tavern’s exterior and refurbish its interior, depending on the scope of the work.
He said he would consider selling the tavern and surrounding property, including the buildings he uses for his business, for a fair price and the cost of relocating if someone presented a development proposal.
Coming up with possible uses for the Old Stone Tavern is part of a master plan being developed with a $150,000 state grant extended to the nonprofit West End Partnership for Development.
“We’d love to see that area developed, so we can tie both sides of the West End together,” said Lou Bucci, the organization’s chairman. “Unfortunately, our organization doesn’t have the kind of money needed to take on a project like that. We’re hoping that as things improve economically, one of the foundations or a private developer will show some interest. We’d certainly do what we can to support them.”
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Carnegie Catholic Church May Get $7.1M Renewal
By Jeffrey Widmer
TRIBUNE-REVIEW NEWS SERVICE
Thursday, July 8, 2010The old St. Luke’s Church in Carnegie might gain new life.
The Carnegie planning commission last month approved plans to renovate the red brick church at Third Street and Third Avenue. It closed after being ravaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
It would reopen as the official center of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, though council must approve the plans.
According to information provided by the Rev. David Poecking in St. Luke’s June 13 bulletin, the parish hopes to have a final draft before the end of July.
The church estimates that the project will cost about $7.1 million; about $500,000 of that has been paid for, according to Poecking.
The parish has $3.4 million more for the project, leaving $3.2 million to be covered through a combination of further insurance payouts from the 2004 flood, the sale of Seton Hall in Carnegie and St. Ignatius in Scott, and a fund-raising campaign, Poecking said.
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Old-Fashioned Amusement Parks Once Beckoned, Have Nearly Vanished
By Bobby Cherry and Kristina Serafini
SEWICKLEY HERALD
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A model of Pittsburgh's Luna Park is one of the attractions at the train exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, North Side. Opened in 1905, Luna Park in Oakland was known for its performances, odd attractions and, most notably, its use of electricity. Tribune-Review Archives
For more than 100 years, American amusement parks have entertained and thrilled those looking for summertime excitement. But as cultures shifted and competition increased, the thrills, fun and family gatherings at many parks stopped, leaving only memories behind.
From the late 19th century through the mid 1950s, there were almost two dozen such parks in the Pittsburgh area. Few have survived.
Families who went to Kennywood Park packed picnic lunches, which sat undisturbed on tables as folks enjoyed the rides. Rare was the family who bought food at the park. These Ford City picnickers clean up after lunch during the fifth annual Ford City Community Picnic at Kennywood Park. About 6,000 residents of the Ford City area enjoyed a day of fun at the amusement park in June of 1956. Tribune-Review Archives
Luna Park
Opened in 1905, Luna Park in Oakland was known for its performances, odd attractions and, most notably, its use of electricity.
More than 67,000 lights illuminated the park’s attractions situated near Craig Street and what now is Baum Boulevard.
“At the time, most people had one, maybe two lights in their house if they were lucky,” said Jim Futrell, amusement park historian.
Owned by Frederick Ingersoll, an inventor who owned 38 similar parks across the country, Luna Park offered concerts, foreign landmark replicas and rides.
In 1995, Kennywood Park paid homage to Luna by re-creating the Shoot-the-Chutes ride and water fountain features in its Lost Kennywood addition.
Attractions such as Infant Incubator dazzled visitors.
A 1906 brochure for the park advertised, “Little mites of humanity, whose lives were despaired of, were taken to the incubator, where, under the care of learned physicians, and the gentle ministrations of trained nurses, the park patrons saw them grow strong and sturdy again.”
Ingersoll filed for bankruptcy in March 1908. The park closed in August 1909, nearly two years after a lion escaped, killing a visitor.
Inside Storybook Forest at Idlewild Park, Eleanor Clark, of Ligonier Township, portrays the part of the Old Woman who Lives in the Shoe. Getting a hug on their visit are Paige Ohler and her little sister Aerica of Mt. Pleasant. Idlewild Park, which opened in 1878, has to be the oldest continuing amusement park in the Pittsburgh area, if not the country. Tribune-Review Archives
White Swan Park
White Swan Park had everything from roller coasters to skee ball — but not white swans.
“Dad always wanted to put white swans on the lakes in the park,” said Bill Kleeman, son of White Swan Park owners Edward and Margaret Kleeman. The park also was owned by Margaret Kleeman’s brother, Roy Todd.
Like the rest of the park, the lakes are gone. Rides and attractions were torn down nearly 20 years ago as the park was forced to close in 1990 after state Department of Transportation officials relocated the Parkway West to the new Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay.
The summer of 1989 would be the last for the park, which entertained locals for 34 years.
“Every time I drive past it, I look up and realize I’m driving over White Swan Park,” said Steve Mcateer, who worked most of the rides before becoming a maintenance man for the park in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“It was a grand old thing. It was like one big family.”
Known for its Galaxy, Mad Mouse and large slide, White Swan Park entertained celebrities heading to and from the airport and children from around the West Hills.
“There was a constant flow of picnics, too,” said Mcateer of North Fayette. “There was always something going on at the park.”
West View Park, opened in 1906, was noted for its community picnics and Danceland, where the Rolling Stones appeared in 1964. Roller coasters were made out of wood and Kiddieland was a big draw for the little ones in the family. Tribune-Review Archives
West View Park
The factors that made West View Park prosper contributed to its demise.
During the beginning of its 71-year run, the park, located on Perrysville Avenue in West View, was a hot spot for community picnics. More than 100 picnics were held there the first season the park opened, according to Heinz History Center archives.
Founded by Theodore M. Harton, West View Park boasted many popular rides — most of which were built by the T.M. Harton Co. — including the Dips, the first coaster built in Pennsylvania with drops of more than 50 feet.
The park was passed down through the Harton family, and though the 1920s started off slow, by the end of the decade, the park had undergone a renovation to add a new roller coaster, the Racing Whippet, to the landscape, as well as several other new rides and renovations to existing ones.
Dancing became a popular pastime in the 1920s, and West View Park’s ballroom provided much of the financial stability during the Great Depression. During the evenings, a capacity-sized crowd often crammed into the dancing pavilion for music from local and national bands, including the Rolling Stones, who played at the center in 1964.
Perhaps the park’s most successful period arrived when George M. Harton III took control in 1945. The next year, three new rides — a miniature railroad, flying skooter and Ferris Wheel — were added. In 1947, the ballroom was renovated to include new lighting and air conditioning and reopened as Danceland in 1948.
Though dancing started losing its popularity in the 1950s, many of the couples who used to dance there were starting to bring their children to the park’s Kiddieland.
But the good times wouldn’t last forever.
In September 1965, the Pittsburgh Railways Company discontinued trolley service to the park. Then, in 1966, George Harton III died, the park was passed on to his 80-year-old mother, and it fell by the wayside.
“The family grew increasingly detached from the park,” said Jim Futrell, amusement park historian.
Without improvements to the park, people began turning to Kennywood Park to host picnics.
West View Park was dealt a major blow on Oct. 3, 1973, when a fire destroyed Danceland. The park closed before the 1978 season.
Alameda Park in Butler County was once an amusement park that opened in 1901. The building at far right in this drawing housed the carousel and is the only original building remaining. Tribune-Review Archives
At one time, train service to amusement parks in the area was common as entire communities or schools spent the day at the park after arriving there by rail. A special train carried more than 1,700 Ford City picnickers to Kennywood Park for an annual community picnic day in 1958. People waited at the railroad station at the corner of Third Avenue and Ford Street at the present site of the town's clock tower to board the train. Tribune-Review Archives
The Steel Phantom coaster at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin makes its way through a corkscrew on Monday, Sept. 4, 2000, the last day of its existence. As time passes, visitors expect more and more -- and bigger, faster and more thrill filled coasters. Parks throughout the country compete to offer riders the latest in coaster technology. AP Photo | Gene J. Puskar
More parks
Many amusement parks opened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Pittsburgh region:
1878 — Idlewild Park, Somerset
1897 — Calhoun Park, Lincoln Place
1898 — Kennywood Park, West Mifflin
1901 — Maple Grove Park, Pittsburgh
1901 — Eldora Park, Eldora
1901 — Alameda Park, Butler
1901– Homestead Park, Homestead
1902 — Oakwood Amusement Park, Crafton
1903 — Southern Park, Carrick
1903 — Oakford Park, Jeannette
1904 — Interurban Park, Pittsburgh
1905 — Luna Park, Oakland
1906 — West View Park, West View
1906 — Dreamland, Pittsburgh
1906 — Coney Island, Neville Island
1906 — Dream City, Wilkinsburg
1924 — Rainbow Gardens, White Oak
1927 — Burkes Glen Park, Monroeville
1927 — Harmarville Park, Blawnox
1928 — Mapleview Park, Canonsburg
1955 — White Swan Park, Findlay
Source: Tribune-Review News Service research
An era that has passedThe turn of the last century “was the time when trolley companies were expanding and opening parks at the ending of the line to generate traffic on evenings and weekends,” said Jim Futrell, author of “Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania” and historian for the National Amusement Park Historical Association in Lombard, Ill.
“They were a much different animal than what parks are today,” he said. “They offered picnics, dances and maybe a roller coaster. It was a much different type of environment than what you see today.”
The number of parks in the region — about two dozen opened between 1878 and 1955 — was uncommon for its size, Futrell said.
“It was a testament to the topography and the industrialized nature of the region that so many parks existed,” Futrell said.
In 1906 alone, four parks opened: West View Park, now a plaza that houses Giant Eagle; Dreamland in Pittsburgh; Coney Island in Neville Island; and Dream City in Wilkinsburg.
White Swan Park — opened in 1955. Situated on the Moon-Findlay border, it was designed as a roadside stop along the Parkway West to the then-Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
“At the time, people would travel from miles and miles away to drive on the parkway,” said Bill Kleeman of Sewickley, whose parents, Edward and Margaret Kleeman, and uncle, Roy Todd, owned White Swan.
When trolley companies merged into larger entities, many owned multiple amusement parks, such as the Pittsburgh Railways Company that at one time owned Calhoun Park in Lincoln Place, Oakwood in Crafton, Southern Park in Carrick and Kennywood Park in West Mifflin.
The trolley company sold the parks to the Henninger family, who eventually sold or closed three of the four parks. Kennywood opened in 1898 and is among one of the few old-fashioned amusement parks to remain open.
Few records exist from many of the parks in the region, including Coney Island, a short-lived park that opened on Neville Island on June 27, 1907. The park featured a 50-foot boardwalk, shoot-the-chutes ride and a 1,000-foot beach.
The Great Depression threatened the local amusement park industry, leaving a handful of parks, including Kennywood, Idlewild Park and West View, Futrell said.
As time passed, visitors expected more and more, he said.
“The industry was maturing, and people wanted more thrill rides,” Futrell said. “Smaller parks didn’t have space or funds for thrill rides.”
Today, the family-owned amusement park is an anachronism. The region’s last — Kennywood and its sister parks Idlewild Park and Sandcastle Waterpark — were sold in 2007 by longtime owners the Henninger and McSwigan families to Spain-based Parques Reunidos.
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Fight On to Keep Brick Street in Regent Square
By Alyssa Karas
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Signs posted along Macon Avenue in Regent Square detail the residents' fight to keep their brick roads from being paved over by the water company. Andrew Russell | Tribune-Review
The clusters of bright orange cones on Macon Avenue in Regent Square alert motorists and pedestrians of giant holes in the yellow-brick road.
But the cones are warning signs of a battle brewing between Swissvale residents and a water company.
When Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority replaces the water line in the 1400 block of Macon Avenue, the company intends to remove the bricks then pave the street with asphalt. But many residents are adamant that the brick street be restored, and plan to protest the water authority’s decision at the council meeting at 7 p.m. today.
“It will be a fight (with water authority officials) if it has to be,” said Swissvale Borough Council President David Petrarca. “(Residents) want brick. They do not want asphalt. It’s always that way.”
Much of the debate centers on cost. Petrarca said water authority officials put an estimated $270,000 price tag on the project. This includes removing the brick, replacing the main water line and all lateral lines to homes, putting down a new base then paving with asphalt.
The water authority did not provide an estimate for replacing the bricks on the nearly 100-year-old streets, Petrarca said. Brick would be more expensive in the short-run but require less maintenance over time, borough officials said. Water authority Manager Anthony Russo Jr. declined to comment.
The water authority may run into some legal roadblocks. According to Swissvale Solicitor Bob McTiernan, the borough has an ordinance that states materials used to replace a street surface must be of the same covering and the same grade as the originals.
Residents and council members said the bricks keep property values up, make the streets safer and add to the neighborhood’s charm.
“I love this neighborhood,” said resident Ann Walston, 62. “One of the most beautiful things about it is the streets and the trees.”
The issue began after a water main break on June 22 caused sinkholes to cave in. When at least one sinkhole was patched with asphalt, residents took notice, Webber said. Residents began organizing meetings and writing letters to council members and the mayor.
Other communities are facing similar problems. In Aspinwall, Borough Manager Ed Warchol has grappled with what to do about a worn-out brick road for more than a year.
“The problem is the expense,” Warchol said. “It’s astronomical. It keeps the quaintness of everything, but I don’t have the money.” However, it’s important to keep in mind what the community wants, he said.
Arthur Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said the Regent Square streets could qualify for landmark status. A structure must be at least 50 years old and designed with distinction, Ziegler said.
“I just hope they find a way to keep these bricks that contribute to the uniqueness of this marvelous neighborhood,” he said.