Category Archive: Historic Properties
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Bedford golf course builds on famed architects’ designs
By Rick Starr
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, September 30, 2007The Bedford Springs Resort Old Course has been rejuvenated.
The classic 18-hole golf course re-opened in July as part of a $120 million renovation of the links and the 216-room resort and spa by Bedford Resort Partners.“With four sets of tees on every hole, the course will challenge players of every skill level,” says golf pro Ron Leporati.
Golf at Bedford Springs goes back more than 100 years, so the first obstacle to restoring the layout was deciding which era to revisit:
= Spencer Oldham designed the original 18-hole course in 1895, complete with geometric bunkers.
= A.W. Tillinghast added a classic par-3 hole in 1912 that he named “Tiny Tim,” while taking the course to nine holes.
= Donald Ross expanded the course to 18 holes in 1923, adding several holes along Shober’s Run, one of the state’s Gold Medal trout streams.
The resort preserved the designs of all three famed architects, according to restoration specialist Ron Forse, of Forse Design of Hopwood.
“While we tried to maintain the visual character and the playing character of each hole from its original design, we also made a lot of changes to make it playable for today,” Forse says.
The course now features a state-of-the-art irrigation system, and Bentgrass fairways, tees and greens.
“We were restoring a significant piece of Pennsylvania history at Bedford Springs, at least as far as golf is concerned,” he says. “We’re very cognizant of the responsibility.
“It’s a balancing act to maintain as much of the design intent of the old hole, but still make it play as part of a resort course today.”
Because of modern driver technology, which ushered in the era of 300-yard drives, Forse moved several tees to bring hazards back into play.
Other changes, such as lowering the degree of slope on greens, were forced by advances in turf management and equipment.
“But we felt all along that if the course had a modern feel, it would have been a failure,” Forse says.
Forse is particularly proud of the restoration of Tillinghast’s “Tiny Tim,” now the 14th hole. Tillinghast considered the little hole one of his best because it brings a pond, creek, wetlands, mounding and tight bunkering into play.
“There aren’t many par-3s from 1912 left in Pennsylvania,” Forse says.
“Tiny Tim” was almost lost when the property was virtually abandoned in 1986 – just two years after the Department of the Interior designated its hotel and spa as a National Historic Landmark.
Forse had to rebuild two of Ross’ closing holes — using a 1952 photograph — because they had been converted into a driving range.
Forse says he’s constantly impressed with the strategic aspects of holes designed by Oldham, Tillinghast and Ross.
“Playing their designs never gets old, because they built alternate routes to the target,” he says. “They didn’t want golfers to take shots for granted.”
Bedford Springs Resort Old Course
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,795 blue tees, 6,431 white, 5,807 gold, 5,050 red
Greens fees: Resort guest, $105-125; public and tournament, $115-$135; twilight rate (after 3 p.m.), $70-90
Overnight golf packages: Starting at $355 per person, $470 per couple
Tee times: Required
Details: 814-623-8100 or www.bedfordspringsresort.com
Rick Starr can be reached at rstarr@tribweb.com or 724-226-4691.
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Bedford Springs Resort returns to its roots
By William Loeffler
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, September 30, 2007Even the U.S. presidents who stayed here didn’t have it this good.
During its 200-year history, the Bedford Springs Resort has played host to Presidents James K. Polk, William Taft and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Not to mention author Nathaniel Hawthorne, manufacturer Henry Ford and nine Supreme Court justices.They were drawn by the resort’s rustic serenity and the reputed medicinal benefits of its seven natural mineral springs. These waters were also known to the Indian tribes in the region’s frontier days, when Bedford was a British stronghold in the French and Indian War, and later, a headache for the fledgling U.S. government during the Whiskey Rebellion.
Today, the Bedford Springs resort rises, reborn, an elegant Greek revival redoubt nestled in the Allegheny Mountains, in Bedford County.
The resort, parts of which date to 1806, reopened July 12 after a $120 million restoration. An easy two-hour drive from Pittsburgh, Bedford Springs pays tribute to its past while providing modern spa service, fine dining and a range of outdoor activities on its 2,200 acres, including 25 miles of trails, a golf course and a gold-medal trout stream.
Exit the turnpike and drive four miles through the antique shops and apothecaries of Bedford. Outside of town, the mountains press against the road. Round a curve, past beds of blooming black-eyed Susans, swoop down a small hill, and — wham — the panorama spreads out before you. Strung across the landscape is a columned palace with manicured lawns and a circular drive blooming with formal gardens. It’s easy to see why the place served as the summer white house for U.S. President and Pennsylvania native James Buchanan.
Bedford Springs wears its historical pedigree proudly. Above the front desk hangs a vintage 39-star American flag. Visitors will discover a soothing warren of fireplaces, graceful curving banisters and long hallways carpeted in restful sage green. But modern amenities haven’t been forgotten. Each of the 216 rooms and suites features a 32-inch flat-screen TV, Egyptian bed linens and i-Pod. Wi-fi access is available throughout the resort.
The resort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1984 before closing two years later. It defied eight attempts to get it up and running again, says Todd Gillespie, director of sales and marketing.
The property was purchased and developed by Bedford Resort Partners, who include the Ferchill Group of Cleveland, Chevron TCI, and the Bedford Springs Company. The resort was restored to its 1905 incarnation.
“It had to be built back to the way that it looked in 1905,” Gillespie says. “There were very specific criteria we had to meet.”
Restoration efforts included removing sediment from the Shobers Run Creek, where guests can fly fish. The golf course was restored to its original design. Workers also removed, cleaned and replaced the original glass window panels of the hotel. Several bear the etchings of brides who were married there.
“When people would get married here, it was traditional to etch their names in the glass to prove that their diamonds were real,” says Cheryl Funk, marketing manager.
One inscription, in a window near the clubby, masculine library, reads “B.T. Warren, August 23, 1892.”
Bedford Springs is planning to revive that tradition for future weddings, Funk says, but will provide an etching pen to forestall embarrassment to a bride who gets stuck with cubic zirconium.
Today, “taking the waters” means surrendering to the luxurious ministrations of the staff at the brand-new Springs Eternal Spa.
First is a plush Terricloth robe and sandals, followed by a shower with ginger black walnut body scrub, one of the spa’s extensive line of personal care products, most made using local botanicals. Sink into a hot tub fed by an eighth spring, which was discovered during the renovations. Then dip into the cold plunge pool. Repeat, then repair to the aroma therapy steam. Don the robe, then wait in the lounge, with its view of the flower gardens, and sip Orchid Oolong tea and munch fruit and nuts. Then it’s time for a massage.
Rates range from $249-$299 per night, based on views, day of week and seasonality. Spa suites start at $309.
The restaurants on the premises include the Crystal Dining room, with the original crystal chandeliers, gilt framed mirrors, wood floors and four hues of blue.
Enjoy an Angus beef filet and a glass of Rodney Strong Cabernet and contemplate the period photos of the resort’s guests from the previous century, taking their ease in boaters and bustles. After dinner, gather at the fire pit on the grounds or sit in one of the vintage rocking chairs on the balcony.
Athletes can run, kayak, hike or rent bikes made by Cannondale, which operates a factory in nearby Bedford and has offices in Europe and Asia. Cannondale has provided cycles to competitors in the Tour de France.
Guest Marsha Miller, concluding her stay the resort, summed up its appeal: “What I really enjoyed about it was that it’s got all this history and tradition, but it’s modern.”
Resort highlights
• The Crystal Dining Room has an exhibition kitchen and rotisserie and a 1,500-bottle wine cellar. It includes the Daniel Webster room, named for one of the resort’s celebrated guests, which is reserved for private dining.
• The Frontier Tavern is in the Stone Inn, which was a stagecoach stopover for travelers. Guests can enjoy trout club sandwiches, billiards, micrwobrewed beer or a cigar from the well-stocked humidor. Artifacts on display include an old wood stove, crockery and a bear trap. After dark, step outside and pass the time by the fire pit, just as guests did 100 years ago.
• The 1796 Room, which features fine dining in an upscale 18th-century ambience, puts a 21st-century twist on American colonial cuisine. Dishes include venison, bison, rabbit, quail, wild boar, game pie and mountain trout.
• The Springs Eternal Spa is a 30,000-square-foot addition to the resort and features wet and dry treatment rooms, a private spa garden, mineral springs, couple’s treatment, aromatheraphy, facials and massage. It also features a boutique shop with a line of personal-care products, many made using local botanicals and minerals.
• Activities include trout fishing in Shobers Run Creek, 25 miles of hiking and biking trails and an indoor fitness facility. The spring-fed indoor pool area has been restored to its original 1905 state, right down to the orchestra pit on the second story, where string quartets used to serenade bathers. The outdoor pool complex includes private cabanas. Resort Rascals, a children’s activity center, will open soon.
• The restored 18-hole golf course, one of the first to be built in America, has old-growth trees. Refreshments will be available at the Half Way House, which will be near the 10th green.
• Banquet catering is available for the 20,000-square-foot conference facility.
Did you know? During World War II, the U.S. Department of State used the Bedford Springs Hotel as a U.S. Naval communications training center until 1945, remodeling hotel facilities, including the convention hall, to accommodate more than 7,000 Navy personnel. In 1943, the posh retreat also housed 200 Japanese diplomats and their families detained after the fall of Germany. Guests of the United States, they later were exchanged for captured American POWs in Asia.
If you go
Where: Bedford Springs Resort, 2138 Business Route 220, Bedford
Details: 814-623-8100William Loeffler can be reached at wloeffler@tribweb.com or 412-320-7986.
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Southminster church windows being restored
By Erin Gibson Allen
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Thursday, September 27, 2007Enter Southminster Presbyterian Church, in Mt. Lebanon, and you’ll see two stained glass windows on either side of the main door that welcome visitors “… into the house of the Lord.”
In the spacious sanctuary you will see a large stained glass window, known as the Chancel Window, depicting images of Jesus Christ.
Sit down to pray and you’ll notice more large windows to the left and right in the transepts, referred to as the Parable Window and the Miracle Window. These contain Biblical images rendered predominantly in cobalt blue. Smaller windows line the outer edges of the pews.
On your way out, you’ll see the Great Commission Window, which, among depictions of the disciples, tells the visitor to “… make disciples of all nations, and lo I am with you always.”
These coordinated images done in stained glass were the vision of Dr. Calvin Reid, the fourth pastor of the church. The church was built in 1928 and the windows started going in after WWII, but were not finished until 1963.
Now those windows are getting a meticulous face lift.
Various church families and groups funded the initial cost of the windows, designed by Pittsburgh Stained Glass Studios, D’Ascenzo Studios, and Willet Studios.
An evaluation in 2005 revealed that the windows now suffer from planar deflection, which means that the lead material between the glass pieces has weakened over time, causing the windows to curve and bulge.
The Miracle Window, facing south, was in the worst condition and is being completely refurbished in the first phase of repair.
“The real miracle is that the window didn’t crash onto Castle Shannon Boulevard,” said Carla Campbell, a church trustee working on the window project.
The Miracle Window is the largest part of the renovation effort, costing about $80,000. Small “vent” windows, which open to the outside, are also being repaired, costing about $1,500 each.
Juxtaposed to the sanctuary is a chapel, with more stained glass windows, several of which are also being repaired.
Stained Glass Resources in the West End is repairing the windows under the supervision of Kirk Weaver, a vice president of the company and Southminster member.
Mr. Weaver, who has been working with stained glass his entire life — his father and grandfather were in the business — explains that techniques used today are much the same as they have always been. Work is still done by hand by craftsmen using the same tools and techniques that the original artist would have used.
Restoring stained glass windows is tedious and time consuming. Mr. Weaver estimates that this project will take about 2,000 manhours.
The most difficult part of the job is removing the windows. “You don’t really know how strong the panels are until you get them down,” he said. Workers must be precise and careful so as not to damage any of pieces as they are removed.
After the window is disassembled, one section at a time, a full-sized rubbing of the window is made, using brown paper layered with carbon paper. This allows the craftsmen to reassemble the window, exactly as it was, using new lead, and after cleaning each hand-blown piece of glass.
Working on church windows adds pressure to the job, Mr. Weaver said. “The church has served as a good steward of these works of art, and now it is my turn. It is an awesome responsibility.”
The Great Commission Window contains small images of local interest worth searching for. Hidden in this window is a Bessemer furnace, used to produce carbon steel in the area’s historic steel days.
The church hopes to have the windows back, good as new, in time for Christmas. After being refurbished, the Miracle Window “should outlast any of the members,” Mr. Weaver said.
A majority of the funding for the window repair will be covered by member donations. In June, the church received designation as a historic landmark with the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. The Foundation provided the church with a $5,000 matching grant to help fund the window restoration.
The church envisions repairing the remaining windows in two additional phases as their condition deteriorates and as funds allow.
Southminster is an active church, with approximately 1,500 members and numerous outreach programs. The church offers a preschool, daycare, and operates the South Hills Food Pantry. As a member of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, Southminster provides meals and overnight accommodations to homeless families one week at a time, on a rotating basis. Many local groups use the church for meeting space.
A visitor in the sanctuary also may notice woodcarvings recalling the disciplines of daily life (labor and education, for example) lining the chancel. These carvings were done in 1989 by sculptor Hugh Watkins, a church member and Mt. Lebanon native.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the church, however, is better heard than seen. Inside the sandstone tower atop the church are eight bells. Six of these bells came from a church in Preston, England, whose tower became too weak to hold the heavy bells, which range in weight from 500 to 1,000 pounds. A foundation in England works to find churches that can use abandoned bells. Four of the bells were built in 1814, two others in 1934, and two in 2000. The bells were dedicated at Southminster in October of 2002.
It takes 8 people, pulling on ropes, to ring the bells, explained Richard Pinkerton, the minister of music. Mr. Pinkerton believes that church’s tower is one of only 45 in North America to have active full-circle ringing bells like these. Most church bells are either not active or are run mechanically, he said.
The tower is known as the “Peace Tower” because the word peace is engraved in two different languages (for a total of 16 languages) on opposite sides of each bell.
Both the windows and the bells serve as evidence that sometimes doing things by hand, in the same tradition as they have been for hundreds of years, creates the most inspiring results.
The bells can be heard on Thursday evenings, Sunday mornings, and special occasions.
For more, call the church, at 412-343-8900.
First published on September 27, 2007 at 6:45 am
Erin Gibson Allen is a freelance writer. -
Residents hope historic ‘label’ will save school
Thursday, September 27, 2007
By Judy Laurinatis,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteWhen the old Turtle Creek High School was placed on the National Register of Historic Places late last month, the people who love the building that now is East Junior High cheered.
Now they hope the historic designation will help convince the Woodland Hills School Board that the building should be protected and, if not used by the school district, at least sold to someone who will appreciate it.
Razing the building is one of several options before a board coping with declining population and deteriorating buildings. East Junior High has just 272 pupils in a building that has the capacity of 617. The building once held 2,000 pupils.
On Wednesday, the board will hear what an ad hoc committee appointed by the school board believes should be done with the building constructed in 1917 and occupied as Union High School in 1918. The board is expected to vote on the recommendation at its Oct. 10 meeting. Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are held in the administration building on Greensburg Pike.
Among the options the committee will propose, panel members said, are selling the building to a college or university to be used as a satellite campus; turning it into a performing arts high school for the Eastern suburbs; or selling it to another entity sometime in the future.
A school reorganization plan involving closing East Junior High and moving those students to West Junior High was presented to the school board in August by HHSDR/Architects and Engineers of Pittsburgh.
The architects deemed East in poor condition overall with a number of specific problems cited. They included deterioration on the exterior terra cotta embellishments and concrete beams and a brick facade in need of repointing. The basement has water damage, swimming pool pumps are in bad shape and the stage needs to be upgraded.
Still, Turtle Creek Councilwoman Jill Henkel said, “It identifies the town.” She graduated from the school and lived through a big renovation of the building in 1977 when she was a student.
But in 2005, the school board looked at some options for the building, including tearing it down. That consideration rallied townspeople who came out by the hundreds in support of keeping it.
The loss of the building would be a blow to the town, Ms. Henkel said this week. Its history is tied to the history of the Turtle Creek and at least one of Turtle Creek’s “firsts.”
For instance, the high school was the site of the state’s first school district merger, she said.
The class of 1919 was the first graduating class from the school and had students from Wilmerding, East Pittsburgh and Turtle Creek attending. The mixed student body is why it was named Union not just Turtle Creek High School, she explained. The high school name reverted back to Turtle Creek when Wilmerding students began attending their own high school in 1940.
But that isn’t all, said Ms. Henkel and Bob Mock, another resident and save-the-school supporter.
Turtle Creek, a town of 6,000 people, doesn’t have an actual public park. The green space Turtle Creek does have is the campus of the old school, and it’s a most popular spot for residents on sunny weekend afternoons, Mr. Mock said.
The auditorium is also a centerpiece for the school and for the borough.
“Tony Bennett performed there in the 1940s,” Mr. Mock said.
Ron Yochum, Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation chief information officer, said the National Register designation is an honor but restricts owners only in certain ways. For instance, if federal funds are to be used to rehabilitate the building, certain guidelines issued by a board of review must be followed. Otherwise, the owner is still in control.
“They could do a tear down or sell it,” Mr. Yochum said. Mostly though, owners will find that “very valuable tax credits” for renovation work will accompany historic designation status, and a building’s value may actually increase.
First published on September 27, 2007 at 6:27 am
Judy Laurinatis can be reached at jlaurinatis@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1228. -
Downtown forum focuses on vacant, abandoned properties
By Justin Vellucci
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 25, 2007Where some curse the sight of vacant homes, boarded-up shops and weed-choked yards, Arthur P. Ziegler Jr. sings of opportunity.
On Monday, the president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation spoke with about 620 elected leaders and development officials who gathered Downtown to help share and expand that vision during a two-day national conference on vacant and abandoned properties.“Vacant properties are a big problem in older cities and we look upon them, often, as a major resource for revitalization,” Ziegler said as he prepared to enter a session at the Omni William Penn Hotel. “We’re here to learn about what other cities are doing and what other solutions they’ve found.”
Participants’ name tags read like a who’s who of America’s post-industrial Rust Belt, with representatives attending from Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit and Youngstown, Ohio, among others. But, each city’s take on dealing with blighted homes, population loss and neighborhood disinvestment seemed to unite them.
“This is really the place where the ‘do-ers’ in different communities can come together,” said Don Chen, executive director of Smart Growth America.
“If there’s one message, the one message is: ‘No one can solve this problem on their own,’ ” said Joseph Schilling, a Virginia Tech professor who served on the conference’s executive committee.But what, specifically, could Pittsburgh officials glean from the National Vacant Properties Campaign’s first national conference?
Chen and Schilling said they could learn to preserve neighborhoods and aging infrastructure by following the successful steps Philadelphia took in its Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.
Pittsburghers also could benefit, they said, from studying Youngstown, which aggressively tackled abandoned properties through its Youngstown 2010 plan. Or the city could look closely at Richmond, Va., which helped rebuild six targeted communities through its Neighborhoods In Bloom program.
Greater Pittsburgh has plenty to teach leaders from other communities, participants said. Several talked about development of former industrial and waterfront sites, while Chen praised Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s buyback of more than 11,000 tax liens as “very exciting.” Ravenstahl helped kick off the event with a welcome speech.
The excitement in Pittsburgh and its recent designation as “America’s Most Livable City” were actually part of the reason the conference came to town, said Jennifer Leonard, director of the National Vacant Properties Campaign.
“It’s a good showplace for cities similar to it,” Leonard said. “It’s a city with problems. But it’s also a city looking for solutions.”
Justin Vellucci can be reached at jvellucci@tribweb.com or 412-320-7847.
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Spinoff targets urban revitalization
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 18, 2007The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is forming a new nonprofit corporation to expand its activities in neighborhood and urban revitalization.
Mark Bibro, chairman of the South Side-based preservationist organization, announced Monday the foundation had hired Howard B. Slaughter Jr., who recently left his job as director of Fannie Mae’s Pittsburgh Community Business Center, as the unit’s CEO.The new nonprofit — Landmarks Community Capital Inc. — will provide equity and debt financing for housing and economic development in Western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia, said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., the foundation’s president.
“This broadens the tools with which we can work,” said Ziegler, who also will serve as the new corporation’s president. “It enables us to tap the capital markets on a broader basis, and we can do more things within the very broad interpretation under which we operate for historic preservation.”
Cities and towns throughout Western Pennsylvania are historic, but restoring historic buildings isn’t the only way they can be revitalized, Ziegler said.
“You need new construction, you need new businesses on Main Street, or you may need new housing or new forms of green energy,” he said.
The idea of the new corporation is to raise funds through grants, loans and investments that the foundation can use for grants, loans and investments in such projects. Roles it can play include developer, co-developer or lender to community-development corporations and others that undertake such work.
It also hopes to contract with government and private agencies to define such projects and conduct feasibility studies for them, according to a news release. Goals include expanding regional employment, promoting energy conservation and assisting in rural and farm economic development.
“There is an opportunity in the market to provide appropriate financing for existing and new developments independently and in collaboration with other financial intermediaries and developers,” said Slaughter, 49. His appointment is effective Oct. 15.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
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Point Park hall will get historic designation
By The Tribune-Review
Tuesday, September 18, 2007Point Park University’s Lawrence Hall will be designated a historic landmark Thursday by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
The building has been owned by Point Park since 1967 and underwent a major renovation in 2005.Lawrence Hall, on Wood Street, Downtown, originally was built as the Keystone Athletic Club in 1928 and later became the 21-story Sherwyn Hotel.
The historic landmark plaque will be unveiled at 10 a.m. at the main entrance to the hall.
The foundation began its program of identifying architecturally significant structures and landscapes in 1968.
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Tax help driving big rehab projects
Historical remakes use federal credits to raise moneyTuesday, September 18, 2007
By Marylynne Pitz,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday’s grand opening of Bedford Springs Resort marks a milestone in its $120 million rehabilitation, capping more than two decades of monumental efforts to revive the Bedford County mountain retreat.It also represents one of the largest projects in Pennsylvania to take advantage of a federal tax credit program that has spurred nearly $300 million of investment in Pittsburgh the past decade.
Examples include Downtown’s Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, Heinz Lofts on the North Side and the Armstrong Cork Factory, a $60 million project with three luxury apartment buildings that opened in May in the Strip District.
More recently, an 18-month renovation that cost upwards of $15 million transformed the former Keystone Grocery warehouse and Try Street Terminal into Shannon Hall, a nine-story Downtown building with 140 apartments that opened in July for Art Institute of Pittsburgh students.
And just last week, Trek Development announced plans to convert Downtown’s Century Building on Seventh Street into affordable apartments, aided by $2.3 million in federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.
Created three decades ago by Congress to spur preservation, the credits help developers clear financial hurdles that accompany the renovation of older structures, which cost more to rehabilitate than building anew. The credits allow lenders, banks and corporations to invest in the projects, while using the credits to reduce their tax liabilities dollar for dollar.
The developer first must qualify for the tax credits, which they then sell to the investors. The process requires developers to submit a detailed application outlining a project’s scope, and the building must be on the National Register of Historic Places to qualify for the full 20 percent credit.
The buyer of the credit “virtually owns the building. They are not just buying the tax credit. They are entering a partnership and … sharing in the profits,” said Jill Paskoff, a certified public accountant with the Reznick Group in Baltimore.
The community benefits from the rehabilitation and reuse of little-used and abandoned properties that are added back to the tax rolls. Since 1978, Allegheny County alone has seen 431 such projects use the credits to spur investments totaling $487.7 million, said Bonnie Wilkinson Mark, a historical architect with Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Historic Preservation.
Francisco Escalante, director of operations for the local development company No Wall Productions, said his firm has used historic tax credits on three Downtown-area projects, including the recently renovated 930 Penn Ave., a six-story building that has 20 apartments, a Subway sandwich shop on the first floor and the restaurant Seviche.
“Without having access to the historic credit, our renovations … would not have been possible,” Mr. Escalante said, adding that No Wall Productions’ partner in the deal was Rugby Realty, which owns the Frick Building and Gulf Tower.
No Wall Productions also obtained credits for its renovation of 905 Liberty Ave., where it created a space called Liberty Lofts in partnership with the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. And it used the credits to finance renovation of the Bruno Building, which has seven residential and commercial lofts at 945 Penn Ave.
All three buildings are contributing structures to the Penn-Liberty National Register Historic District.
The Bedford Springs Resort project had six investors who put up $10 million of their own money and qualified the project for a $23 million rehabilitation tax credit, which was sold to oil giant Chevron.
The proceeds helped fund the renovations, said Timm Judson, chief investment officer for The Ferchill Group of Cleveland, a member of the investor group, Bedford Resort Partners Ltd. Historic tax credits aren’t the only vehicle developers turn to when renovating old properties. Often part and parcel with the use of credits are agreements by the developer with preservation groups to maintain the building’s historic character.
On the surface, such restrictions may sound like a deterrent to financing. But in effect, by preventing modifications that could ruin the building’s historic character, they ensure that the building will retain its integrity and even increase in value.
In practice, these easements allow the preservationists, often a group like the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, to control changes that are made to the facade or the site of the building, said Martha W. Jordan, a Duquesne University law professor who teaches courses on federal income tax.
Professor Jordan — who also serves on the board of Landmarks, the city’s largest preservation group — said the foundation has an easement on the facade of Bedford Springs Resort as well as its golf course.
“They can’t change the golf course without permission of Landmarks. They can’t make changes to the facade of Bedford Springs,” she said.
Jack Miller, director of planned giving at Landmarks, said the nonprofit has more than 30 restrictive easements or covenants on properties primarily in Western Pennsylvania. The best known of these include the Heinz Lofts on the North Side, the Armstrong Cork Factory and the Bedford Springs project.
John Panno, tax counsel at Sherwin-Williams in Cleveland, likes the use of historic tax credits and facade easements not only because they benefit his company, but because they are helping beautify his hometown. He grew up in McKees Rocks.
“I love seeing what’s happening,” he said. “This is about preserving history and reviving communities.”
First published on September 18, 2007 at 12:00 am
Marylynne Pitz can be reached at mpitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1648.