Category Archive: News Wire Services
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Row house shows off South Side’s potential
By Pamela Starr
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, June 2, 2007When Ashley Snider bought her South Side row house four years ago, nothing had been done to it since the 1970s.
So, the 31-year-old interior designer ripped up the shag carpeting and had the original soft-pine floors refinished. She took the wallpaper off the kitchen walls and painted them an eggplant color on the bottom and a lemon yellow color on top. Snider painted the metal cabinets with black chalkboard paint so she can write on them.“Paint is cheaper than anything else,” says Snider, who works at Perlora in the Strip District. “I also redid the kitchen floor with black-and-white checkered tiles.”
Snider’s row house is one of 12 homes that will be featured on the 16th annual Historic South Side Home Tour, which will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. today. Jennifer Strang, marketing and communications director for the South Side Local Development Company, which benefits from tour proceeds, says the group chose the house to illustrate how Snider was able to do a lot of work herself and stay on a budget.
“Ashley represents the next generation of South Sider, very in touch with her own sense of style but respectful of her home’s history,” says Strang. “Tourgoers will find a well-balanced mix of classic and modern design throughout and come away in awe that Ashley was able to do much of the work unassisted.”
Snider paid just $90,000 for the 1,500-square-foot row house on Jane Street, which was built in 1866 and has had 12 owners. A German immigrant, Jacob Dietz, purchased the lot for $300 in 1865 and had the house built the following year. The home was turned into two apartments at the turn of the 20th century.This is the first home she has bought herself.
“I knew I wanted to live in the South Side,” says Snider, who owns a friendly pit-bull mix named Totsi. “It was the second house I looked at. I think I got lucky.”
There was an unlucky incident shortly after she moved in. Plumbing problems when the sewage backed up in the basement cost her $9,000 to fix. New pipes had to be installed. She also paid $4,000 to have the hardwood floors refinished.
Snider painted the walls in the dining room a nice, taupe shade and used the same paint in the master bedroom. She painted a wide, taupe strip in the middle of the walls of the master bedroom and painted the rest of the walls eggshell. Violet sheers on the windows add a splash of color.
“I kept the light fixture because I liked it, but it’s not original to the house,” she points out.
The bathroom on the second floor sports pink wall tiles that came with the house. The black-and-white checkered tile floor matches the kitchen floor. Snider created the medicine cabinet herself with a beautiful mosaic pattern. She painted the rest of the walls a charcoal color, but wanted black.
“That’s the way it came out,” she says with a laugh.
The second bedroom was painted with the taupe color; and Snider painted the ceramic Elvis bookends herself. She also made the platters in the kitchen.
“I used to work at Color Me Mine in Squirrel Hill,” she explains. “I have a lot of experience working with paints and stuff.”
The woodwork throughout the row house is all original, as are the fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom. She painted one wall in the living room a rich terra-cotta shade and the other walls eggshell. Snider just started to strip the original marble fireplace in her bedroom but it’s taking a lot of time.
“I work on stuff when I have the time,” she says. “I don’t plan to do anything next. I don’t have the money for a new kitchen or bath. I just paint things all the time. I do things in cheap ways.”
Strang says that the home tour will show very diverse houses.
“From painstakingly remodeled 19th century homes to beautifully repurposed churches and industrial space, there is something for everyone,” she says. “All represent the South Side’s commitment to historic preservation.”
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Block House roof removal sheds light on history
By Allison M. Heinrichs
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, June 2, 2007The Block House, owned by the Fort Pitt Society of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is the oldest building in Pittsburgh and a National Historic Landmark. It protected soldiers during the French and Indian War and was used as a residence through most of the 1800s.
As the wooden planks were removed, sunlight streamed into the Fort Pitt Block House’s pyramid-shaped attic, illuminating six inches of dust.
Kelly Linn couldn’t have been happier.
“Nobody living today has ever seen this,” said Linn, curator of the Block House, as she perched on scaffolding, clutching a handful of dirty straw, twine and horsehair insulation.
Over the next three weeks, workers with RickJohn Roofing will remove the old roof, built in 1894, and replace it with a roof of similar design. The Carnegie-based company volunteered to do the project and provide materials for free, a $20,000 value. General manager Jean-Paul Bibaud made the arrangements.
The 243-year-old Block House’s attic didn’t contain any huge surprises — no bones of Revolutionary War soldiers or American Indians — but the materials used to build the five-sided roof, and the way it was put together, make it a historical treasure, Linn said.“Knowing what’s under here will launch a whole body of research into the history of roofing,” said Linn, an archeologist and historic preservationist.
The Block House, owned by the Fort Pitt Society of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, sits in Point State Park. It’s the oldest building in Pittsburgh and a National Historic Landmark. It protected soldiers during the French and Indian War and was used as a residence through most of the 1800s.
The roof has a top layer of cedar shakes, tacked atop the existing roof in 1948. Beneath is a layer of thick black felt, seven layers of tar paper and another layer of older felt, followed by inch-thick wood planks. Between the planks and the second-floor ceiling is an attic 4 feet tall at its highest point, and 16 feet wide.
The floor, coated in clumps of the dusty insulation, is littered with animal skeletons, bird eggs and old papers.
As she sifts through the attic in the next three weeks, Linn hopes to find a date on one of the scraps of paper or an old coin that would give clues about the age of the roof materials — which could date from 1764, when the building was constructed, to 1948, when the final layer of roof was installed.
Several archaeologists will inspect the roof, including a team of historic preservationists from Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio.
For Rick Gammiere, who co-owns RickJohn Roofing with Bobby Wallo, the project caps off an education that began when he was a child.
“When I was in grade school, we visited the Block House, and there was this rope that blocked off the upstairs,” said Gammiere. “I said, ‘I’m going to get up there.’ I can now say I have been.”
Allison M. Heinrichs can be reached at aheinrichs@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5607.
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Historic groups see opportunity in Rt. 28 project
Friday, June 01, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAs the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation begins its final design plans to widen and upgrade Route 28, several organizations are working with PennDot to not only preserve the oldest existing Roman Catholic Croatian church building in the country, but also to beautify the entrance to Troy Hill and attract tourists.
The St. Nicholas Church, unused since 2004, is at the heart of the efforts of Preservation Pittsburgh and the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation. They want to turn the 106-year old church into a national shrine and museum to tell the story of the original St. Nicholas, the model for Santa Claus, and the story of the Croatian community that was established in the neighborhood.
“We’re trying to make the church a destination and to find a way to make this venture financially practical,” said Jack Schmitt, a board member of Preservation Pittsburgh.
One of the earliest Croatian settlements in the country grew up along the canal that used to parallel the river and provide a means for Allegheny City — which became the North Side after Pittsburgh annexed it in 1907 — to receive goods off-loaded from the Allegheny River. It is a history few Pittsburghers know, “but it was one of the greatest things that happened,” said Mr. Schmitt. “It was key to Pittsburgh’s development.”
He said the preservation effort began seven years ago “to save all the green hillsides and homes and mitigate the loss of historic fabric” along the North Side portal. The group has since accepted that it will lose many structures along the 21/2-mile section between the 16th Street Bridge and the Millvale interchange.
A collection of nonprofits are lined up to complement PennDot’s redesign, including the Riverlife Task Force, Friends of the Riverfront, and the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“As a North Sider, I looked at the possibilities and thought, ‘Hey, this is the entrance [to the neighborhood],” said Mr. Schmitt, a resident of Allegheny West. “We can have walls with bolts sticking out of them or we can do something creative and save some of our history. It would be interesting and uplifting. If we don’t do something good, we’ll have to live with what is done.”
Goals include connecting the Allegheny River trail, via its footpath across the highway, to a green space that would run from the Pennsylvania Brewing Co. at Troy Hill and Finial streets to the church; to provide access to the church from the roadway; and to present the area’s history by posting canal stones and interpretive plaques along the river trail.
The road redesign will be a compromise of green space and concrete, but the retaining walls present an opportunity, he said. The preservation groups have asked PennDot to imitate the lock stone walls of the old canal that once followed the same course as the road. They also propose bronze outlines of canal boats against the wall as a whimsical experience for Route 28 travelers.
Dan Cessna, PennDot’s district executive, said the canal boats would have to be paid for by state enhancement funds, not from the Route 28 redesign budget, if PennDot approves their installation.
“We haven’t investigated to determine whether it would be feasible from a safety standpoint,” he said. “We haven’t determined the exact limits of rights of way.” He said PennDot wants the result “to look pleasing” and would consider the suggested hillside plantings and stone wall texture of the old canal.
In one of many options in its most recent design report, PennDot proposes to regrade the church parking lot to be level with Route 28 and to expand the road “primarily to the east to minimize hillside impacts.”
Arthur Ziegler of Landmarks said that though “nothing is definite, we are interested” in creating the interpretive plaques. “They would tell the physical history of the area, and it’s a history of transportation — canal, railroad, river and road.”
Other stories could include those of Indian trails and settlements, George Washington’s crossing, Herr’s Island, canal houses, the Croatian community, and the Heinz and Pittsburgh Wool factories.
Mr. Ziegler said Landmarks has been “very interested in saving [the church], and we like the idea that it might be a Croatian shrine. We were involved in getting a roadway to access the church with parking.”
In March, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh had all religious objects removed from the church, as canon requires. The Follieri Group of New York City has a sales agreement to buy the church, said Victor Kamber, a Follieri spokesman. “We should close within the month.”
Mr. Kamber said the Follieri Group has been in contact with the preservationists and expects to lease the church back to them.
“We’re sort of excited about their plans and hope they will be able to” make them succeed, he said.
The Follieri Group, a real-estate development company, targets unused Catholic churches for preservation, said Mr. Kamber, “rather than see them destroyed or developed as something that isn’t representative of the community.”
(Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. )
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YMCA moving to Market Square – New facility in former G.C. Murphy is cornerstone of renewal
Friday, June 01, 2007
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMillcraft Industries wanted foot traffic to help support its revitalization of the old G.C. Murphy’s store. The YMCA wanted a more central location Downtown.
It proved to be the perfect marriage.
The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh announced yesterday that it will open a new Downtown facility in the Murphy’s building as part of Millcraft’s $32 million Market Square Place project.
With the decision, the YMCA plans to sell its current Downtown building on the Boulevard of the Allies, but won’t be moving out until its new facility is completed. There will be no interruption in services or programs, said John Cardone, vice president of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh.
“This is a seamless transition. There won’t be any break in services at all,” he said.
The new facility will be 38,000 square feet. The Downtown YMCA will occupy about 30,000 square feet of the old Murphy’s building and become the lead tenant of the Market Square Place project, which also will feature shops and apartments. It also will use about 8,000 square feet of an adjacent property that’s part of the Millcraft project.
At the new location there will be a 25-meter, five-lane swimming pool, men’s and women’s locker rooms, wellness facilities with cardiovascular and strength equipment and exercise rooms, and a multitude of services and programs, including nutrition, smoke cessation, weight management, physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.
Programs and services will be spread over three floors, from the basement to the second floor, rather than seven as at the current location. The new facility also will house Activate Pittsburgh’s staff and wellness programs.
Mr. Cardone said the YMCA had been looking for a more central location Downtown and has been seeking to consolidate space and programs. He said it has found that people generally won’t walk more than three blocks to an exercise program. Navigating seven floors in the current building also has proved to be inconvenient for members.
“Quite frankly, it’s really just too much space. The way it’s designed, it’s really broken up,” he said.
Moving to the Murphy’s building more in the heart of the Downtown business district should make it more convenient for existing members, some 2,000 to 2,500 strong, and help recruit new ones.
Mr. Cardone said the YMCA also is excited about being part of the resurgence in the Downtown business corridor, with the Murphy’s project, the construction of the Three PNC Plaza skyscraper and the conversion of the Lazarus-Macy’s store to office space and housing.
For Millcraft, the move will provide a steady diet of foot traffic, about 1,000 people a day, and a great amenity for residents of the 50 loft apartments it is planning as part of the Murphy’s conversion, said Lucas Piatt, vice president of real estate.
“It’s really going to activate Market Square and the whole Fifth and Market district,” he said.
Even with the YMCA, Millcraft will have 27,000 to 30,000 square feet of ground-level space to offer retailers and others. It sees that as potential homes for restaurants, spas, salons, and lounges. It also has plans for a market catering to the needs of residents and office workers.
The YMCA hopes to open the new facility in late 2008 or early 2009. Millcraft plans to begin taking reservations for apartments by mid-2008. A non-profit, the YMCA pays property taxes on a small portion of its current building. The Murphy’s building will become taxable once Millcraft completes its purchase. The move of the YMCA won’t affect that.
The Downtown YMCA expects to add about 50 to its 150-member staff with the move.With the sale of the Boulevard of the Allies building, about 30 administrative staff members for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh will move to another location.
(Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262. )
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YMCA to anchor Market Square Place
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 1, 2007The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh will cut the size of its Downtown facility by more than half when it moves to the vacant G.C. Murphy store complex on Fifth Avenue on the edge of Market Square, officials said Thursday.
The nonprofit organization will lease space at the Murphy structure and the neighboring former D&K retail store building, with the move expected by late next year.The two buildings are being developed by Washington County-based Millcraft Industries Inc. as part of its Market Square Place project, a $32 million complex that will include retail stores, restaurants and apartments.
In November, the YMCA disclosed to its nearly 2,500 full-time and 500 seasonal members that it planned to sell its seven-story headquarters building on the Boulevard of the Allies and seek another Downtown site.
“The YMCA has made a major commitment to the revitalization of the Fifth and Market District and to making Downtown a much better place to live and work,” said Lucas Piatt, vice president of Millcraft Industries.
“As the lead tenant in the Market Square Place project, the YMCA will provide a sought-after amenity to the residential aspect of the project and provide essential foot traffic to help support the additional … retail use within the development.”The move will bring 200 staffers, including 50 new hires, and the 500 to 1,000 people who use the Downtown Y’s facilities each day into the heart of the city’s deteriorated retail corridor along Fifth and Forbes avenues.
In addition to its members, the YMCA serves hundreds of others through its wellness programs.
“In our new Downtown location, we will provide wellness and other services that match the needs of our Downtown members at a convenient central location,” said Dan Lebish, board chairman of the Downtown YMCA branch.
The facility at Market Square Place will include a 25-meter, five-lane pool, men’s and women’s locker rooms, wellness facilities with cardiovascular and strength equipment and exercise rooms.
However, it will not have the basketball court, running track and other court game facilities offered at the current site.
The YMCA signed a long-term lease at the Murphy site, but terms of the deal were not disclosed. Because it is a leased facility, the new YMCA will be fully taxable property, said Piatt and John Cardone, the Downtown Y’s executive director.
Over the years, the Downtown Y attempted to secure tax-free status for its land and building at 330 Blvd. of the Allies, which drew objections from private health clubs in the city.
The organization will not move from its current location until the new complex is ready, said Cardone. He said efforts continue to sell the building, which has been home to the YMCA for 20 years.
“Our new YMCA will not only help us serve our Downtown members better, it will also enable us to invest more in YMCA programming throughout the greater Pittsburgh community,” said Cardone.
The building will be substantially more cost-effective to operate, and Cardone said savings will be returned to the community in the form of scholarships and enhanced services.
The majority of the YMCA’s new facilities and offices will be on the second floor of the former G.C. Murphy complex, about 30,000 square feet of its 38,000-square-foot space, Piatt said.
However, its main entrance will be on the ground-level floor of the seven-story D&K building, across from PNC Financial Services Group’s Three PNC Plaza project under construction. The connection between the D&K and Murphy complex will be on the second level of the two structures.
The five floors above the Y’s facilities in the D&K structure will be developed as rental apartments. Other apartment units will be located on the upper levels of the former G.C. Murphy complex, which is a combination of several adjoining buildings.
The Piatt project is being built with the aid of about $6 million in state funds. Additional help is being sought in historic tax credits.
Possibilities for ground-level retail space include a high-end spa and salon, restaurants, clothing shops and a bank, Piatt said.
News of the YMCA’s decision was welcomed by Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which has been concerned about preservation of historic and architecturally significant structures Downtown.
“We’ve worked closely with the Piatts and their architect to ensure that the entire complex of buildings could be saved and made workable,” Ziegler said. “We’ve been pleased with the uses they are creating.”
YMCA on the move
New site
Location: Former G.C. Murphy complex and D&K Store building
Size: 38,000 square feet
Pool: 25-meter, five lanes
Facilities: Men’s and women’s locker rooms; wellness facilities, with cardiovascular and strength equipment and exercise rooms; whirlpool, sauna and steam room
Current site
Location: 330 Blvd. of the Allies
Size: 97,000 square feet on seven stories
Pool: 25-meter, six lanes
Not moving from old site: Gymnasium, racquetball courts, walking/running track
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Stained-glass ‘puzzle’ is piece of Fayette County history
By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 1, 2007Terry Bengel hasn’t had an easy task restoring the long-hidden stained glass that once graced the rotunda ceiling in the 115-year-old Fayette County Courthouse.
For the past five weeks, the Greensburg artist has been refurbishing the soot-blemished panels that were in storage for at least decades, if not nearly the past century.Compounding matters, nobody in county government has any photos depicting how the glass, which has a pale amber ripple background, used to look.
But Bengel said he is confident he’ll have all 20 glass panels ready for installation by Andaloro Construction before a June 15 deadline.
“It was a bit of a mystery, and it turned into a puzzle that had to be put together,” Bengel said Thursday.
Fayette County President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi has spurred the glass restoration, which he says will create a near-mirror image of the stained-glass dome outside his second-floor courtroom.In March, county commissioners hired Andaloro, of Hopwood, to complete the reinstallation for $124,200, although only $2,200 in matching money from the county’s general fund has been pledged.
The remaining $122,000 is split between a grant from the National Road Heritage Corridor and defendant fees paid into a county magisterial court fund.
Once mounted, the stained-glass panels will replace plain beige plaster slabs that have hung in their place in the 17.5-foot-by-22-foot ceiling.
“They all required some work,” Bengel said. “Three of the panels were total reconstructions. They were totally lost.”
Bengel is getting down to the final work in his George Street studio, mixing and grinding ceramic colors into the panels reproduced by Connellsville-based Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass.
“It’s an important piece of historic preservation,” he said.
Chris Foreman can be reached at cforeman@tribweb.com or 724-626-3561.
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New YMCA planned for Murphy building
Thursday, May 31, 2007By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh will move to the old G.C. Murphy’s building Downtown as part of efforts to revitalize the Fifth and Forbes corridor.It is teaming up with Washington County developer Millcraft Industries to open a 38,000-square-foot facility in the old building. The new facility at Market Square Place will include a 25-meter five-lane pool, men’s and women’s locker rooms, wellness facilities with cardiovascular and strength equipment, and exercise rooms.
As part of the move, the organization plans to sell its current building on the Boulevard of the Allies, where it has been for more than 20 years. The YMCA plans to make the official announcement at a banquet this evening.
The YMCA’s administrative offices, which are at its current site, also will be moved to a yet-to-be-determined location.
“The YMCA has made a major commitment to the revitalization of the Fifth and Market District and to making Downtown a much better place to live and work,” said Lucas Piatt, Millcraft vice president of real estate.
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Hazelwood welcomes new houses
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteCity officials and neighborhood leaders broke ground yesterday on the future site of two new townhouses, among six three-bedroom residences to be built in Hazelwood. They will be the first new homes in the neighborhood in about 15 years, said Jim Richter, executive director of the Hazelwood Initiative.
The $1.5 million project featuring four townhouses and two single-family homes is being developed under the auspices of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. It has been planned for six or seven years, said Jerome Dettore, executive director of the URA.
Four townhouses will be built on Sylvan Avenue, across from the long-vacant Gladstone School. Monongahela Street and Homewood Avenue will each get a new single-family detached home. The townhouses are expected to sell for $129,500, the houses for $135,500. Two homes will be subsidized for home owners who make less than 80 percent of the area’s median income, according to the mayor’s office.
Vanessa Anderson has lived between the two townhouse lots for nine years. They have been vacant for much longer, said Arlene Dobbs, a 45-year resident of the street.
“I’ll be glad to see the weeds go,” said Ms. Dobbs. “Glad to see the land put to good use.”
“It’ll be a brighter place,” said Ms. Anderson, who considered the prospect of four new households on each side of her, saying, “I hope they’re good neighbors.”
She said she has walked to the curb regularly to confront people hanging out in cars whom she presumed were there to sell drugs, she said.
The Rev. Tim Smith, board chair of the Hazelwood Initiative, also has confronted visitors with questionable intentions.
“It has been quiet for the past year, and I think that’s why,” she said, adding that otherwise, the street is peaceful, with lots of homeowners.
As District 5 Councilman Doug Shields described Hazelwood, “You’re six minutes from Oakland and connected to everywhere.”
To give the Hazelwood housing development a boost, the city committed community development block grant money to cover an almost $300,000 gap in financing, Mr. Richter said.
“It’s a sunny day in Hazelwood,” Mr. Richter said yesterday. “Maybe it’s a sign of a sunny future.”
(Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. )