Category Archive: News Wire Services
-
Union Trust sale a done deal
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 7, 2008The sale of the historic Union Trust Building, Downtown, was completed Wednesday to principals of Mika Realty Group of Los Angeles.
Purchase price for the ornate, 11-story building that covers a full block of Grant Street, was $24.1 million, according to documents filed with the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds office.
The purchase was expected to be completed last week. It was delayed because of the complicated nature of the transaction, said Jeffery Ackerman, commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, who negotiated the deal.
The new owners intend to restore the grandeur of the building that was designed in Flemish Gothic style by noted Pittsburgh architect F.J. Osterling and built in 1916 for industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The buyers were not available for comment yesterday.
The group, which includes Michael Kamen, founder of privately held Mika, and a business associate, Gerson Fox, also of Los Angeles, plans to continue using the structure as an office building and to attract a mix of upscale retail tenants to the first level.
The sale price was about $6 million below its $30.75 million market value, including land, as listed in public records. But local real estate experts said it was not a bargain-basement deal, noting that the building is nearly empty with the exception of a few retail tenants on the first floor.
“It’s a beautiful building with a lot of character,” said Jim Geiger, senior vice president with Grant Street Associates-Cushman & Wakefield, a Downtown commercial real estate firm. “It has a lot of things going for it, but it will be a challenge to fill the office space in light of today’s office market.”
Seller of the building at 501 Grant St. was Teal Rock 501 Grant Street LP, a unit of Cigna Corp. of Philadelphia.
Cigna has controlled the property since 2006, when it assumed ownership from long-time owner, Florida-based DeBartolo Property Group LLC, which defaulted on a mortgage held by Cigna.
The building ran into trouble after Mellon Financial Corp., its major tenant, relocated employees to other buildings Downtown in May 2006, and most other tenants followed suit due to uncertainties with their leases.
For the buyer, the purchase price, which works out to about $40.50 per square foot based on the 595,000-square-feet of leasable space in the building, is lower than it would cost to try to duplicate such a grand structure in the city, said Ned Doran, of GVA Oxford, the commercial leasing arm of Oxford Development Co.
Questions to be determined are how much they will spend to upgrade the building and their ability to attract tenants, Doran said.
Ackerman has said a number of large office users and retail prospects already have looked at the building.
The purchase was welcomed by Tom Michael, who owns upscale Larrimor’s clothing store in the building, the largest remaining retail tenant. Michael said he had talked to Michael Kamen of Mika recently.
“We are optimistic about moving forward and filling the building with quality tenants,” said Michael. “They have a large plan in the works for the building.”
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907
-
Cinema fans preserve local old-school movie houses
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 7, 2008When an opportunity to buy the movie theater she used to frequent as a child came up six years ago, Meg Burkardt and two friends jumped at the chance.
Burkardt, Cyndi Yount and Marc Serrao, all of Penn Hills, bought the Oaks Theater in Oakmont with one goal in mind: preserving a dying breed.
“This is definitely a labor of love,” Burkardt said.
The Oaks has avoided the fate of most of the neighborhood movie theaters that once dotted this area’s towns.
“This is an area where you had a lot of Main Streets, and many of them had a theater. One of the main casualties on Main Street has been the theaters,” said Al Tannler, director of collections at the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
The Oaks, which opened in 1938 and seats 430, “rounds out the community,” said Bob Cooper, president of the Oakmont Chamber of Commerce.Interest in preserving old movie houses has grown over the past decade.
The Denis Theater in Mt. Lebanon, which has been closed for about 20 years, was bought by newly elected Commissioner D. Raja, who is studying how best to use the building.
The Strand in Zelienople will reopen later this year after a $1 million face-lift, said its owner, Ron Carter, 40, of Cranberry, who plans to eventually convert the theater into a performing arts center. The theater opened in 1914 as a silent movie house and vaudeville theater.
The Web site Cinema Treasures was launched eight years ago to help preserve movie theaters. The site links “movie theater owners and enthusiasts in an effort to help save the last remaining movie palaces across the country.”
In the early days, movie theaters would open at 10 a.m. and close at 11 p.m., said Michael Aronson, assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon and author of a soon-to-be-released book on the early days of movies in Pittsburgh.
“Some people would go after work. It was an alternative to going to the saloon,” he said.
The social aspect of going to the movies made them stand out, Aronson said. “It wasn’t just what was on the screen.”
Today, neighborhood movie theaters are luring customers with lower ticket and concession stand prices.
The January reopening of the Hollywood Theater in Dormont has added an extra draw to the business district, attracting patrons to nearby Potomac Avenue and its restaurants, merchants said.
The Bradley Center, an agency serving children with mental, emotional and developmental disabilities, reopened the 300-seat Hollywood for second-run films.
Dan Bahur, 50, of Pleasant Hills got his start in the “movie biz” as an usher when he was 16.
“My friends were working at theaters and I got a job. I got sucked in and never left,” said Bahur, manager of the Hollywood, where he worked 20 years ago. He came back when he heard the theater was reopening.
The theater, which opened in 1933, has undergone extensive renovations to its lobby and projection booth. The theater is Dolby-digital capable and has new seats.
“We have a really good theater here. We have an awesome place to see a movie in,” Bahur said. ” ‘Ben Hur’ on a 19-inch screen is a lot different than on a 30-foot-screen.”
The Hollywood has been a hit with neighbors.
“It’s so nice to have a theater in your neighborhood. A lot of people walk to it,” said John Maggio of Dormont. With its single screen, “you don’t hear other movies in the other rooms.”
The Ambridge Family Theater got its start in the late 1960s in a former sewing machine store.
“This is a great little business. It’s not going to make us wealthy by any means,” said Glenda Cockrum, who bought the theater with her husband, Rick, about 10 years ago.
The theater is involved in the community, and often hosts Scout troops or high school groups. Cockrum said she was bitten by the “movie bug” while working as an assistant manager for Carmike Cinema.
Her own theater is a little smaller. It seats 134.
“We used to have four movie theaters in Ambridge. This is the only one left,” said Mayor Carl “Buzzy” Notarianni, who saw “Serpico” and “The Ten Commandments” at the theater.
It’s a family operation. Cockrum handles booking, advertising, painting and the box office. Her husband is the projectionist, plumber, electrician, computer programmer and bookkeeper.
For the Cockrums, who have four children, simple economics dictated their plans to buy the theater.
“It was cheaper to buy the theater than to take the kids to the movies each week,” Glenda Cockrum said with a laugh.
Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.
-
Funding secures region’s black history
By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, February 6, 2008A 1950s print of Herron Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District is among of 750,000 images from the New Pittsburgh Courier archives.
They are snapshots from Pittsburgh’s past.
Black troops return home from World War II and march down Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. Downtown protesters call for an end to segregation at city pools. A baseball player signs with the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues.
The photographs are part of a Pittsburgh Courier archive of more than 750,000 images being preserved and protected in a project to make them available for research, education and public display. The nonprofit group Pittsburgh Courier Images on Tuesday received a $150,000 federal grant to get the effort started.
“The upshot of this is about sharing this treasure,” said Rod Doss, editor and publisher of the New Pittsburgh Courier. “This is not just a Pittsburgh treasure; it’s a U.S. treasure.”
Opening the archive creates a rare portal into nearly a century of black history in this region and the nation, Doss said. The newspaper is “honored to be the keeper of what is an incredible and extensive record” of black history throughout the 20th century, he said.
At its peak, the Courier was the most widely circulated black newspaper in the United States. It published 21 regional editions across the country and a national edition.
The newspaper will mark its 100th anniversary in 2010.
The archive includes shots by about 250 photographers of black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Sen. Adam Clayton Powell; highlights of the civil rights movement such as the “Little Rock Nine” integrating classes at Central High in Little Rock, Ark.; jazz, blues and classical musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Billy Eckstine; famous sports figures; and thousands of scenes from everyday life in black communities.
“This money is a good foundation for us to start to assess and organize the collection,” said Laura S. Horner of Edgewood, project director for Pittsburgh Courier Images.
More than 60,000 of the photos were shot by legendary photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris for the Courier between 1936 and 1975.
In celebration of Black History Month, some of Harris’ work was on display last night at the City-County Building, Downtown. Born in Pittsburgh in 1908, Harris died in 1998.
The grant was obtained through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Save America’s Treasures Program.
The archive provides “valuable documentation of the history of the momentous struggle for racial equality in our country,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, who helped to secure the grant.
David M. Brown can be reached at dbrown@tribweb.com or 412-380-5614.
-
Sale of Union Trust Building completed for $24.1 million
By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, February 6, 2008The historic Union Trust Building in Downtown Pittsburgh has been sold.
Mika Realty Group of Los Angeles completed the previously announced purchase of the 11-story building from Teal Rock 501 Grant Street LP, a unit of Cigna Corp. of Philadelphia, on Tuesday for $24.1 million.The purchase, through Mika’s Five 501 Grant St. Partners LLC, was recorded today at the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds offfice.
The new owner will continue to use the building for offices, plus first floor retail, said Jeffrey Ackerman, commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, who negotiated the sale.
Efforts will be made by Ackerman and Jeremy Kronman, also of CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, to locate tenants for the 800,000-square-foot building which is nearly empty, except for several retail tenants on the ground level.
Previously known as Two Mellon Bank Center, the building was designed in Flemish Gothic style by noted Pittsburgh architect F. J. Osterling and built in 1916 for industrialist Henry Clay Frick.
Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com or 412-320-7843.
-
Riverfront Park closed to proposals for statues
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, February 5, 2008A moratorium on new public art and memorials in North Shore Riverfront Park leaves two 93-year-old bronze sculptures without a home.
The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority voted Monday to stop considering proposals for sculptures and memorials to be placed in the park, which runs along the Ohio and Allegheny rivers from the Carnegie Science Center to the Ninth Street Bridge.
SEA Executive Director Mary Conturo said the master plan for the park calls for some of the land to remain as untouched “green space.”
Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, wants to place in the park two sculptures that once sat on the entrances to the former Manchester Bridge.
“We would still like to see the portal sculptures from the Manchester Bridge located somewhere near there, as has been discussed,” Ziegler said. “I think it’s still something that should be considered.”
The Manchester Bridge was removed in 1970. The 13-by-37-foot sculptures that sat on it commemorated steel and coal workers, explorers and American Indians.
Three memorials and a public art sculpture sit on the mile-long North Shore Riverfront Park. The memorials honor law enforcement officials, Vietnam War veterans and Korean War veterans. The sculpture near the Carnegie Science Center is “Langley Observatory Clock” by artist R.M. Fischer.
Memorials to World War II veterans and the late children’s television host Fred Rogers are in the works. Once finished there will be six sculptures in the park.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.
-
Tale of two buildings: Different countries, but similar styles
Sunday, February 3, 2008
By Mike Filey,
TORONTO SUNA quick look at the two photos that accompany this article might lead the reader to think they are of the same building viewed from different angles.
But on closer inspection, it’s obvious they are two totally different structures. One shows the Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., while the other is of what we now call “old” City Hall in the heart of our city. The former was constructed from 1883-88, while construction of the latter began in 1889 and took a decade to complete.
The fact that the two buildings are similar in appearance should not come as a surprise since the architect of the Toronto building, Edward James Lennox, was inspired by the work of well-known American architect Henry Hobson Richardson.
In fact, Lennox often made trips south of the border to see various Richardson projects created in a style that had become known internationally as Richardson Romanesque. A couple of those buildings were in nearby Buffalo, N.Y., but it was Richardson’s Allegheny County Courthouse that caught Lennox’s eye.
The young Toronto architect unabashedly used many of its architectural elements in his design for what was initially planned as Toronto’s new combination courthouse/city hall.
Today, the Pittsburgh building is still being used for its original purpose, that of a courthouse. And although Lennox’s building was initially planned to serve as both Toronto’s new city hall and a courthouse for the County of York, it actually served only a single purpose, that of Toronto’s City Hall, from the day it opened in the fall of 1899 until our new City Hall opened across Bay St. 66 years later.
The project began to take shape in 1884 when Lennox proposed replacing the old county courthouse on Adelaide St. E. with a new one at a cost of $400,000. Nothing happened.
In a second report presented to council three years later, Lennox estimated the cost of the new courthouse would now be $690,000. He also introduced the idea of building a new city hall at a cost of $570,000 to replace the old, outdated one at Front and Jarvis. He then went on to suggest that the city could save money by combining the two uses, courthouse and city hall, under one roof. This building could be built for approximately $1 million , thereby saving the taxpayer a nifty $260,000.
More discussions ensued and it wasn’t until 1889 that work on the dual purpose structure — the cost of which had by now escalated to $1,650,000 — actually began. The completion date was set for January 1893.
Progress was slow, painfully slow, with architect Lennox blaming the general contractor for the hold-ups. The delays prompted the following comment in the May 30, 1895 edition of the Globe newspaper: “It is gratifying to note that there has been as yet no fatal accidents attending the building of the new (municipal building) project although several employees have become incapacitated through old age.”
Eventually, and in an effort to get the project back on track, Lennox fired the contactor and assumed full control himself. By now the cost had mushroomed to $2 million. Four more years of work followed and when Mayor John Shaw officially opened the building on Sept.18, 1899, the cost of the long drawn-out project had risen to more than $3 million.
Interestingly, when it did open it was as Toronto’s new city hall with the county courthouse remaining ensconced in its ancient (1852-53) building on Adelaide St. E. It appears that county and city officials couldn’t agree on what proportion of the total building cost each would pay.
Among the invited guests on opening day was the proud yet frustrated architect, Edward James Lennox. Proud because his creation had become one of the continent’s architectural wonders; frustrated at the criticism he faced from the politicians and the newspapers over the building’s final cost.
And the architect’s frustration continued to grow as the city officials refused to pay the various bills he had submitted for the 15 years of work he had undertaken on the constantly changing project. The amount he billed the city totaled exactly $269,658. Of that, a mere 25% was for actual architectural work. The remaining amount covered all the extra work Lennox was forced to undertake himself once work had commenced on the new building.
The arguments over just how much of that bill the city would pay lasted for years and it wasn’t until January 1912, almost 13 years after Mayor Shaw officially opened Toronto’s wonderful new city hall, that architect/contractor Lennox, fed up with the whole matter, accepted the city’s offer of $121,615 — an amount that was less than half of what he requested
-
Courthouse centennial – Westmoreland County Courthouse escaped wrecking ball; stands tribute to esteem for law
Thursday, January 31, 2008
By Rick Shrum,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteIt stands on a bluff, four stories of opulence with thousands of stories to tell.
The panorama from its celebrated dome, 175 feet above street level, is striking — but rivaled by the view of the building from all entrance points to the city.
Granite, marble, stone and the law are the foundations of this place, which was unveiled during the Teddy Roosevelt administration. And which means the wheels of justice there have turned almost as long as the wheels of cars.
Unlike Joan Rivers, however, this stately edifice in Downtown Greensburg has had only one facelift. And it was well done.
The Westmoreland County Courthouse, at the convergence of Main and Pittsburgh streets, is celebrating its centennial today. Inside and outside, it is one of most beautiful county seats sites chronicled in the National Register of Historic Places.
And to think … it nearly was bashed by a wrecking ball.
During the mid-1970s, the county commissioners were planning to level the crumbling courthouse and rebuild. They found that wasn’t a financially sound resolution, though, and sought national historic status — which would merit funding for rehabilitation.
That designation was conferred and restoration began in 1980. This was not a massive undertaking.
“The building didn’t change much, just subtle changes,” said Lou DeRose, an attorney who has worked in the Westmoreland courthouse since he was in law school in 1968.
“All in all,” he said, “it probably looks as good as it did in 1908.”
The good looks include a marble staircase that opens upward to twin spirals on the next floor, marble walls in public halls, 15 wall and ceiling murals painted in the early 1900s by Frenchman Maurice Ingres, floor and ceiling mosaics, outside walls faced with light gray granite, and chandeliers and decorative plaster laurel wreaths enhanced by gold leaf in the courtrooms.
And, of course, there is the central rotunda that rises four stories to the dome ceiling.
The cupola, measuring 85 feet across, was done in Italian Renaissance style and designed by the original architect, William Kauffman.
Light from four semicircular windows at the base of the dome is reflected throughout by the rotunda.
Daniel Ackerman, president judge from 2002-07, has been working in the courthouse since 1980. He remains enamored of the environment.
“Courthouse renovations became popular across the state,” Judge Ackerman said. “But few had the advantage of starting out with a building like this.
“It’s a great place to come to work.”
He was speaking of the courthouse, but it could have been his courtroom. It is an ornate blend of new and old, one of the showpieces being spectator benches that had been in the previous courthouse as early as 1901. They have been restored to their original hue, having once been blackened by countless coats of varnish.
John Blahovec, Judge Ackerman’s successor as president judge, is enamored of the surroundings as well, adding that they reinforce the concept that this is a place of business.
“If it looks like a courthouse,” he said, “people are more likely to act the way they should in a courthouse.”
“I think the advantage of holding court here,” Judge Ackerman said, “is that it makes the impression that things of importance will take place here.”
There are nine courtrooms in the building, up from the original four. The 1980 renovation may not have been an overhaul overall, but it made better use of space.
“We used to have things tucked into every nook and cranny,” Mr. DeRose said. “The files for the ‘Kill for Thrill’ case alone are incredible.”
One courtroom was fashioned out of what originally had been a jurors dormitory.
In the early 20th century, when the automobile was new and roadways were primitive, those summoned for jury duty from faraway Westmoreland towns such as Monessen or Donegal could not easily commute between home and the courthouse. So they slept over in the building where they determined a defendant’s fate.
Actually, this is the fifth incarnation of the Westmoreland courthouse. It began in Hannastown, a two-story log house, about 4 miles away, after Westmoreland County was formed in 1773.
When Greensburg became the permanent county seat in December 1785, a new courthouse was planned. A log house, erected on the current site, had its first court case 13 months later.
Three courthouses followed, opening in 1801, 1854 and 1908.
A few years ago, Judge Ackerman and Mr. DeRose spearheaded a drive to commemorate the upcoming centennial. The celebration began in September and ended with an open house Saturday, in which the public — at no cost — toured the courthouse.
Participants were allowed to go through the dome to the roof outside.
There, they stood on a bluff, four stories high, atop a distinguished landmark.
Rick Shrum can be reached at rshrum@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1911.
First published on January 31, 2008 at 12:00 am
-
Historic status for Wilson’s boyhood home hits political snag
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh City Council will consider historic designation for the boyhood home of the late playwright August Wilson despite a timing problem that could complicate the effort, members said yesterday.
Mr. Wilson’s niece, Kimberly Ellis, said that it would be “a citywide disgrace” if politics jeopardized the designation.
The house at 1727 Bedford Ave. in the Hill District was nominated in March for historic designation by Paul Ellis Jr., nephew of Mr. Wilson and brother of Kim Ellis. The Historic Review Commission and city planning commission both signed off. The petition was sent to council Oct. 10 for final approval.
There it sat until last week, when Mr. Ellis complained. The city code indicates that if council doesn’t act on a historic designation within 90 days of its introduction, the application is denied and can’t be resubmitted for five years, said Council President Doug Shields. That deadline passed early this month.
Mr. Shields got a Law Department opinion saying that since the delay was not Mr. Ellis’ fault, it shouldn’t count against him. He said council will hold a public hearing and vote on the designation.
Mr. Shields said the legislation stalled after it went to the chair of the Planning, Zoning and Land Use Committee. Last year, that was Councilwoman Tonya Payne, of the Hill.
Ms. Payne said she didn’t “know what happened to it,” but when she found out it had fallen through the cracks, she “started chasing it down.”
Ms. Ellis, chair of the Historic Hill Initiative, said she has been “an outspoken critic” of Ms. Payne since the councilwoman backed a bid to put a slots parlor in the neighborhood.
“To think that there would be a four-month delay to historic designation due to politics is a disgrace,” she said.
Ms. Payne said historic designation is “a slam dunk.”
Mr. Ellis said making the house a historic structure is “a great way to honor my uncle’s legacy. Part of my motivation is the scarcity of African-American historic landmarks in the city.”
The emergence of the designation bill follows Monday’s announcement of a $35,300 grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation to the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. That grant is to help Mr. Ellis to turn the now-vacant house into a retreat for writers.
Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am