Category Archive: Historic Properties
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Mt. Lebanon theater to get $3 million
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 29, 2008Officials working to reopen the Denis Theatre in Mt. Lebanon outlined plans for the $3 million project Monday.”Time has not been kind to the Denis,” said Anne Kemerer, executive director of the Denis Theatre Foundation. “There is water damage, vandalism, some outdated equipment.”
The theater’s marquee is in pieces in the lobby. Its basement is filled with 70 years’ worth of items.
The Denis opened in 1937 as a one-screen moviehouse with a capacity to seat 1,200. It changed hands a number of times over 60 years before being bought last year by Mt. Lebanon Commissioner D. Raja. The 11,000-square-foot theater closed in 2004.
Raja, who purchased the theater on Washington Road in November to keep it from being converted to an office complex, has signed a 15-year lease to rent the building to the Denis Theatre Foundation.He hopes the project will spur other development in the community.
“It will be the catalyst,” Raja said.
The foundation is hoping to raise money for the renovation from government grants and private donations.
The Denis would reopen as an art house, showing independent, foreign language films and documentaries.
The timetable for the project depends on the success of the fundraising effort, officials said.
Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.
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Rescue plan for Downtown’s Market Square is expanding
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, April 28, 2008The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is tackling another building rescue project in Market Square, with the aim to further a transformation already under way in the historic Downtown public square.The South Side preservationist organization announced today it will take on restoration of the Thompson Building, a three-story structure adjacent to a trio of vacant buildings where it is spending about $2.5 million to convert into a mixed use complex known as Market at Fifth.Acquisition of the building will enable the foundation to expand its complex into that structure.
Plans for 439 Market St., 441 Market St., and 130 Fifth Ave. include a ground-level restaurant or retail store, seven upper-floor apartments and a rooftop garden.
In addition, the foundation also announced it was given an “easement in perpetuity that will protect the architectural quality of the Buhl Building, another structure on Fifth Avenue near Market Square.As reported, eight new shops have moved in — or will in the coming months — further rejuvenating the 224-year-old square.
Businesses there have credited an increased police presence to fight crime, reduce panhandling and efforts to clean up the city’s streets.
More recently, new programs have been introduced, such as the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Paris to Pittsburgh program that is providing matching grants to help restaurants and other merchants renovate their buildings and expand their operations onto sidewalks — similar to venues popular with tourists in the French capital.
Ron DaParma can be reached atrdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
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Preservation group takes control of Market Square block
By Diana Nelson Jones,Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMonday, April 28, 2008The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has joined forces with N&P Properties to control the development of almost a block of buildings on Market Street, between Fifth Avenue and Market Square, Downtown.
Two five-story buildings in that block are now shells in the process of renovation into seven apartments, and a third will join the other two as retail space on the sidewalk level.
The foundation last week bought the Thompson Bakery building, which now houses the restaurant Ciao Baby, and N&P bought the Buhl Building at the entrance to Market Street at Fifth Avenue and gave the foundation an easement in perpetuity to protect the architectural integrity and terra-cotta facade.
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Brighter days ahead for Wilkinsburg
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 17, 2008Following a blueprint he used to help create Station Square and improve the North Side, philanthropist Dick Scaife pledged $500,000 Wednesday to restore old homes and revitalize Wilkinsburg.”We hope to show that Wilkinsburg is a good place to live, attractive to a variety of people,” said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “And we want to demonstrate that there are properties available, and they can be beautifully restored and make very good homes.”Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation will get the money from the Allegheny Foundation, officials from both organizations said.
The gift is Allegheny Foundation’s biggest grant in recent memory, said Executive Director Matthew Groll. The Downtown-based foundation is chaired by Scaife, owner of the Tribune-Review.
The Allegheny Foundation helped finance restoration of Station Square, the Mexican War Streets and Manchester, Groll said, and Scaife was inspired during a drive through Wilkinsburg several months ago to continue restoration efforts there.”People see a little spark happening down the street,” Groll said. “Hopefully, the enthusiasm spreads and the community as a whole will rise up to meet the new enthusiasm.”
About two years ago, Ziegler’s group started a program to restore four houses in Wilkinsburg’s Hamnett Place neighborhood. The Sarah Scaife Foundation and Allegheny County each granted $500,000 to pay for that project.
History & Landmarks acquires the homes, oversees renovation and offers the homes for sale. The Hamnett Place houses have been sold. Renovations are under way and should be finished in six to eight weeks.
Walter and Rachel Lamory of Regent Square bought a turreted duplex on Jeanette Street for $95,000, one of the four buildings renovated.
“I know the perceived drawbacks of the area, said Rachel Lamory, 24, who attended nearby St. James School. “But I always saw the potential there. When I heard we had a chance to save these beautiful old homes I always admired, I felt we had to be part of it.”
Jack Schmitt and his wife Erin Cunningham paid $70,000 for a Queen Anne-style house that received $195,000 worth of renovations during the project’s first phase. The house has a scalloped dormer and gingerbread trim on the front porch.
“We spent a lot of time driving around, paying attention to the neighborhood,” he said. “We didn’t feel any hesitation whatsoever.”
The couple plans to buy the lot behind their home and the house next to it. They would raze the adjacent house and plant a vegetable garden. They want to set up a food stand and sell their food with a neighbor.
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, praised Scaife’s gift as a boost to the community’s morale.
“It’s exciting when you see this kind of financial commitment,” Ferlo said. “It builds credibility for the economic restructuring and activities within Wilkinsburg that are aimed at revitalizing the core of the community.”
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
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Allegheny Foundation grants $100,000 to Carnegie library
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, March 30, 2008A $100,000 gift from the Allegheny Foundation will help restore the 107-year-old Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall as the linchpin of economic development in Carnegie, officials said.
It increases money the library has raised to more than $5 million toward a goal of $8.6 million.The money is among grants to organizations that the Allegheny Foundation announced Friday to improve the arts, human services, education and economic development in Pennsylvania.
“We’re bringing people from all over to Carnegie,” said Maggie Forbes, executive director of the library and music hall. “They eat here. They buy gas here. They park on Main Street. They get to know the town.”
Forbes said the transformation of the building symbolizes that of the town. Carnegie was struck by a flood in 2004 and a fire a year later that destroyed three century-old buildings on Main Street.
“If we can do it, anybody can do it,” she said. “We were down and out for the count, and we’re working miracles here.”The foundation gave $100,000 to Gilda’s Club, a nonprofit in the Strip District that offers lectures, workshops, support groups and social events for 500 members touched by cancer.
“We are an organization that receives no kind of reimbursement,” said Carol Lennon, executive director of the club. “These kinds of gifts enable us to continue to offer free programs at Gilda’s Club for all members.”
Another beneficiary of the foundation’s generosity is the Extra Mile Education Foundation Inc. It received $250,000 for scholarships at four schools — Holy Rosary in Homewood, St. Agnes in Oakland, St. Benedict the Moor in the Hill District and St. James in Wilkinsburg. The program targets students who are black and nonCatholic.
“This program helps kids succeed in school and in life,” said Ambrose Murray, executive director of Extra Mile. “It gives them a sense of values. It gives them a sense of themselves.”
The Downtown-based foundation, chaired by Richard M. Scaife, owner of the Tribune-Review, also made grants to these organizations:
• $250,000 to the Westmoreland County Historical Society for construction of the History Education Center at Hanna’s Town, the first seat of Westmoreland County.
• $250,000 to Imani Christian Academy, an East Hills school that serves 180 students in grades K-12;
• $150,000 to Manchester Bidwell Corp. for its daily operations and a coordinator of volunteers and alumni;
• $100,000 to The Pittsburgh Project in the North Side for a warehouse that will help provide free home repairs for senior citizens and people with disabilities;
• $100,000 for operation of Hill House Association, a provider of health, human services and education in the Hill District;
• $100,000 to Brandywine Conservancy in Chadds Ford to buy unprotected land within the Meetinghouse Road Corridor of the Brandywine Battlefield National Historic Landmark;
• $75,000 to the Salvation Army for proper management and controls to better serve residents of 28 counties;
• $50,000 to Family Guidance in Sewickley for a mentoring program;
• $50,000 to Family House in Shadyside, to provide living arrangements for families of patients awaiting medical care at local hospitals;
• $50,000 to the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association to restore the interior of Darlington Station;
• $25,000 to Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh in the South Side to help people with special needs overcome employment barriers; and
• $25,000 to Ligonier Hose Company No. 1 for a fire truck.
Grants were made to these organizations located outside Pennsylvania:
• $250,000 to the Archdiocese of Washington, Washington, D.C., to improve urban Catholic education in the nation’s capital.
• $100,000 to Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity, Harrisburg, N.C., to offer cash incentives to women addicted to drugs or alcohol to obtain long-term or permanent birth control.
• $50,000 to Remote Area Medical Service, Knoxville, Tenn., to help provide health, vision and dental care and veterinary services to people living in remote areas of the United States.
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
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$500,000 rehab revives Edgewood’s landmark rail depot
By Melanie Donahoo
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Port Authority of Allegheny County will lease the turn-of-the-century Edgewood Train Station to the borough of Edgewood for the nominal fee of $1 per year.
Nearly $500,000 in renovations have been made to the architectural landmark, as part of a cooperation agreement between the borough and the transit agency, authority spokesman David Whipkey said.
The station, which sits along the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway Extension, got a new roof, water and sewer lines, electrical services, exterior lighting and doors. The woodwork was rehabilitated. Port Authority began the work in November 2006 with money from a federal grant, Whipkey said.
The borough plans to rent the station once all renovations are complete. The building still needs rest rooms, insulation and aesthetic repairs to the interior, said borough Manager Kurt Ferguson.
“This is just a small piece of a much larger project that’s going to develop that whole corridor,” Ferguson said. “So I think it’s an important step in making the rest of those things happen.”
The borough plans to update the Edgewood Avenue corridor and improve its infrastructure and connection to Swissvale. Edgewood is working with Port Authority to find additional money to complete the 1,500-square foot train station. One possibility is offering the tenants a reduced rent in exchange for making the final repairs.
“We will put together an outline for a request-for-proposal and examine what possibilities exist,” Ferguson said. “There are certain limitations with the building that would probably make it more conducive to some sort of office use than it would a retail space.”
Built in 1903 and designed by noted architect Frank Furness, the train station was declared a landmark by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation in 1998. The station once was a stop for trains on the old Penn Central Railroad main line and is believed to be the last existing building in Allegheny County designed by Furness.
Considered the founder of the Philadelphia school of architecture, Furness designed more than 400 buildings during his career, including many railway stations for the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio railroads.
Because the money is not yet in hand, there is no time frame for completion of the station’s renovations, Ferguson said.
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Vacant North Side church may find new life
By Jim Ritchie
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, March 25, 2008The North Side church nearly sold to a Manhattan developer and twice threatened with demolition has another chance at salvation.Talks began this month over whether the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh would sell the vacant St. Nicholas Church to a Croatian group that wants to preserve the 108-year-old building. It housed the first Croatian ethnic parish in the United States.Diocesan officials “encouraged” the Croatian American Cultural and Economic Alliance, based in Scott, to submit a proposal to buy the building with the intent of making it a museum and not to revive it as a church, according to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which spoke with the diocese on the matter.
The building along Route 28 closed in December 2004 and the parish was merged with a sister parish, also called St. Nicholas, in Millvale.
The diocese raised concerns that the space would be rented for special events where alcohol could be served, the foundation said.Former parishioners are hopeful they will buy the building but realize it would not return as a functioning part of the diocese.
“The church itself, as a Catholic Church, is not going to come back,” said Robert Sladack, a former parishioner from Reserve.
Selling to the Croatian group was not the first choice of the diocese. It chose not to accept the group’s initial offer in 2005 of $250,000. It then negotiated with a Manhattan developer, the Follieri Group.
Follieri proposed redeveloping it and several other vacant Catholic buildings in the region. Negotiations fell apart in the fall after an unrelated legal battle involving Follieri publicly unfolded.
The Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese, referred questions to the Rev. Larry Smith, pastor of the St. Nicholas parish. Smith did not return messages seeking comment.
Messages seeking comment from Marion Vujevich, who represents the Croatian group, were not returned. Vujevich, of Mt. Lebanon, is one of five honorary consuls for Croatia based in the United States, making him a top-ranking representative recognized by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to the United States.
Pittsburgh has a strong Croatian presence. The Croatian Fraternal Union in Monroeville is the largest Croatian organization outside of Croatia.
St. Nicholas’ recent history has been controversial.
PennDOT initially called for the building to be razed or moved when it designed the reconstruction of East Ohio Street. Outcry from parishioners and historic preservation groups caused PennDOT to modify its plans, ultimately sparing the building.
The building faced a similar threat in 1920 when the city decided to widen East Ohio Street and called on building owners to relocate or move their buildings. The parish opted to move the church, by lifting it on jacks, about 20 feet back to accommodate the road, according to the diocese.
Jim Ritchie can be reached at jritchie@tribweb.com or 412-320-7933.
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For 3 years, Lord & Taylor sits vacant – Downtown’s former Mellon Bank building a tough sell
Monday, March 17, 2008
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The last time a customer stepped inside the Lord & Taylor building, Downtown, Luke Ravenstahl was serving his first year on City Council and a guy by the name of Roethlisberger was in his rookie season with the Steelers.It’s been more than three years now since the J.J. Gumberg Co. purchased the former department store, which closed in November 2004 amid declining sales and shopper indifference.
Today, the elegant granite building, a National Historic Landmark and former Mellon Bank, stands as testament to ex-Mayor Tom Murphy’s failed strategy for revitalizing the central business district but little else.
As redevelopment activity buzzes a block away, the Lord & Taylor building sits empty in the heart of the Downtown retail corridor, its lights off and locked gates blocking the entrances.
It has been that way since Gumberg purchased the building in February 2005 for $2.5 million, a song compared with the $11.8 million the city sank into the deal that brought Lord & Taylor to Pittsburgh five years earlier.
Gumberg came in with hopes of landing another department store or general merchandise retailer or perhaps even multiple ones to fill the 150,000 square feet of space. There was talk of a Target discount store or even an upscale Nordstrom, which subsequently settled at Ross Park Mall.
None of it has happened. Three years later, Gumberg has yet to land a tenant.
On its Web site, Gumberg has been marketing the “Shoppes at Smithfield,” described as an “inviting, modern, three-tiered open retail environment,” one “designed with flexibility to accommodate today’s most desirable fashion retailers, lifestyle shops and fine dining.”
Fred Reitano, Gumberg executive vice president, said Shoppes at Smithfield was “just a name we were thinking of using … if we decided to use [the building] as a retail venue.”
Mr. Reitano would not disclose any of the prospective retailers or office users Gumberg has met with over the last couple of years but added that the company is willing to take its time in finding a tenant.
“We always felt the Lord & Taylor building … is really the best location within the Downtown central business district. I know we have been patient with our selection of tenancy to ensure that we bring the appropriate retail to Downtown. That’s what we’re looking to do,” he said.
Mr. Ravenstahl, now Pittsburgh’s mayor, said the inability to find a tenant for such a high-profile building has been frustrating.
“It is something right now when you look at it, you wish something was there and a good use was there. But I also believe [with] the momentum … happening in Pittsburgh that current vacancy will someday be an asset. I think it can potentially be a good opportunity for Downtown,” he said.
Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said he is not surprised by what has transpired. Mr. Ziegler and other local preservationists loudly protested the renovations that turned the former bank’s majestic open interior, with its marble columns and floors, into a multilevel department store.
“We said it would be a tragedy when Murphy wanted to destroy that space. The building’s significance was not only its magnificent exterior but its magnificent and unique interior. I certainly think what happened to it was tragic. Since it so far hasn’t worked, that only compounds the situation,” he said.
While lower Fifth Avenue is humming with the redevelopment of another former department store, Lazarus-Macy’s, into shops, condominiums and offices, and the conversion of the old G.C. Murphy’s store into apartments, retail and fitness space, the Lord & Taylor building has resisted reuse.
Local real estate brokers say the building poses unique challenges for Gumberg in marketing it for retail or office use.
Chief among them is that it is ill-suited for merchandising. The high windows worked well for a bank, but aren’t desirable for retail. Few of the windows are at street level and those that are are narrow rectangles, not exactly effective for store displays.
“One of the things that retailers look for is people seeing the merchandise. The building provides certain challenges to that,” said Mike Edwards, president and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. “When you walk by, you don’t say, ‘Oh, that’s a retail building.’ ”
Even Stanley Gumberg, the company’s chairman, conceded the structure posed a challenge when he discussed the purchase in a 2004 interview.
“I’ll bet you couldn’t find another building with this configuration if you stood on your head,” he said at the time.
And while the structure may fit a single user, it is far less effective for multiple tenants, particularly given the limitations on altering its exterior because of its status as a city historic structure, brokers said.
“It worked well as a single-use department store. Its accessibility from the street for multi-tenant purposes is challenged as well as the ability to enhance the storefront presence because it’s a historic building,” said Kevin Langholz, principal of Langholz-Wilson Ellis Inc., a real estate company.
Some said another factor may be the woebegone state of parts of the Fifth and Forbes retail corridor. While lower Fifth Avenue will be home to the new Three PNC Plaza and the Lazarus and Murphy’s redevelopments, other areas are in need of an overhaul. That could affect the ability to market the Lord & Taylor property, brokers said.
“If anything gives Downtown a black eye, frankly, it’s a lot of our rundown areas or stuff that is just behind the times. You walk down Fifth and Forbes, they’re not attractive. They’re not pleasant places to shop,” said David Glickman, vice president of the Retail Group for Grubb & Ellis Co.
Mr. Ravenstahl believes that once the PNC, Lazarus and Murphy’s projects are finished, they will be “part of what we need to change the energy down there.”
“I won’t deny the fact that there are challenges along that corridor and that’s a significant piece of the puzzle when people come in and take a look at redeveloping a particular parcel,” he said.
He remains optimistic that a tenant will be found for the Lord & Taylor building.
“I think it will happen. It’s just a matter of being patient and taking things one step at a time,” he said.
Correction/Clarification: (Published Mar. 20, 2008) The Lord & Taylor building, Downtown, is a city historic structure, not a National Historic Landmark, as this story incorrectly stated when originally published on Mar. 17, 2008. To change the building’s exterior, the owner must get approval from the city Historic Review Commission.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on March 17, 2008 at 12:00 am