Category Archive: News Wire Services
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History & Landmarks Foundation eyes 3 buildings
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, August 9, 2006The Urban Redevelopment Authority plans to sell three historic buildings on the edge of Market Square to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which wants to renovate them into retail and residential space.
URA Executive Director Jerry Dettore expects board approval Thursday to sell the buildings for $257,000.
“The buildings in Market Square are considered historic, so the preservation of them and the restoration of them is something that everyone would like to see,” Dettore said Tuesday.
Officials with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership have expressed interest in moving into one of the renovated buildings.
Before the sale is complete, the URA must purchase one city-owned building, next to the restaurant Ciao Baby, for $40,000. Once that’s done, the three buildings near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Graeme Street can be sold to History & Landmarks.
Foundation Director Arthur Ziegler could not be reached for comment.
Dettore said renovations could begin quickly.
“Just to begin to see some construction activity in the Fifth & Forbes corridor is going to show people that the revitalization (Downtown) is real,” he said, noting that renovations to the former Lazarus-Macy’s Building are under way. Millcraft Industries, of Washington County, is developing retail and grocery space on the first floor and housing on upper floors.
Dettore said the board also will consider giving a $200,000 state Department of Community and Economic Development loan and $5,000 technology grant to Strip District-based lamp shade manufacturer J. Harris & Sons. The money would allow the company to buy manufacturing equipment and expand with 50 more employees.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Bell tower repairs at courthouse to be made soon
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, August 8, 2006Work is expected to begin shortly on two of the four bell towers that ring at Allegheny County’s historic courthouse, Downtown.
Driving wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 damaged masonry joints on the two towers nearest Ross Street, said Joe Olczak, county maintenance director.County maintenance workers did temporary repairs, but the damage requires more expertise than that team has, he said.
The selected contractor will clean out the mortar between the joints and replace it with sturdier material, Olczak said.
Because bids have not yet been open, specific cost information cannot be made public, said Megan Dardanell, a county spokeswoman.
The project was provided for in the county’s 2006 capital budget under roof repairs, however.
Once the contract is awarded, the contractor has 90 days to complete the project.
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Downtown is rife with stone beasts
By Bethany Hofstetter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 28, 2006It’s a jungle out there. Just look up.
Hiding in plain sight on Downtown’s high-rises, lions gnash their teeth at passing cars, eagles and griffins perch above doorways, and dragons threaten to breathe fire on passers-by.
“(Architects) used these animals for decoration, maybe like a flamingo on a lawn today,” says docent Gabe Funaro, of Mt. Lebanon, who leads a city safari of these architectural creatures and gargoyles with Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation’s Downtown Dragon tour.
“It makes the building unique,” Funaro says. “People may not know what the building is, but they will remember that it is the fish building.”
Past the peaceful storefronts of Station Square, Funaro finds a fierce beast with a dog’s face guarding a fountain. The winged animal once stared down at traffic from the side of a now-demolished Liberty Avenue building, but today, its eyes focus over the reflective pool, protecting the pennies and wishes thrown into the water.
Across the Smithfield Street Bridge is the House Building, two blocks from the Mon River, where two creatures splash out of the side of the building. Called a catfish and dolphin by bystanders, the adornments have no real purpose.
Louis Martorella, owner of Buon Giorno, walks into the building every morning to open his restaurant but isn’t fazed by the fangs sticking out of the open mouths of the fish.
“I don’t notice them much, but people from out of town always look up,” Martorella says.
Funaro weaves through the sidewalk traffic to a 116-year-old building, now an attorneys’ office. Claws of a winged dragon grip the sandstone facade, and the beast snarls from its perch toward a parking garage across the street.
Safely on the ground, Funaro walks past the creature and ducks under a low tree branch as he makes his way to Fourth Street. Turning the corner, he stands face-to-face with a giant lion at the entrance to Dollar Bank but doesn’t blink an eye.
“They don’t look ferocious,” Funaro says. “They are more warm, catlike lions.”
One large brown lion sits erect, watching visitors ascend the steps to the bank and looking toward its brother resting its head on a paw.
Across the street, dragons guard their home turf on the Fidelity Building. Puffing out their chests, fire curls out of their mouths above the arched doorways.
These creatures are called grotesques, as opposed to gargoyles, because they serve no function. Gargoyles are built into a structure to spit water away from a building; today’s architects use gutters.
The few real gargoyles left in Pittsburgh are at the top of the First Presbyterian Church, Downtown. Beasts, poised with their mouths open, prepare to empty rain water toward the ground.
In contrast to the angelic and religious windows of the church, the gargoyles sneer on the outside of the building. That doesn’t bother Mary Jane Snyder, church secretary and receptionist, who finds working in the architecturally unique building awe-inspiring.
“Gargoyles serve a functional purpose,” Snyder says. “I don’t know that it would be terribly charming to have water conducted through an angel.”
Bethany Hofstetter can be reached at bhofstetter@tribweb.com or 412-380-5687.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Destruction of Mellon Bank Lobby
Courtesy of KDKA
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Carved creatures
By Bethany Hofstetter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 27, 2006It’s a jungle out there. Just look up.
Hiding in plain sight on Downtown’s high-rises, lions gnash their teeth at passing cars, eagles and griffins perch above doorways, and dragons threaten to breathe fire on passersby.Docent Gabe Funaro, of Mt. Lebanon, leads a “city safari” of these architectural creatures and gargoyles with Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation’s Downtown Dragon tour.
Past the peaceful storefronts of Station Square, Funaro finds a fierce beast with a dog’s face guarding a fountain. The winged animal once stared down at traffic from the side of a now-demolished Liberty Avenue building, but today, its eyes focus over the reflective pool, protecting the pennies and wishes thrown into the water.
Across the Smithfield Street Bridge is the House Building, two blocks from the Mon River, where two creatures splash out of the side of the building. Called a catfish and dolphin by bystanders, the adornments have no real purpose.
“(Architects) used these animals for decoration, maybe like a flamingo on a lawn today,” Funaro said. “It makes the building unique. People may not know what the building is, but they will remember that it is the fish building.”
Louis Martorella, owner of Buon Giorno, walks into the building every morning to open his restaurant but isn’t fazed by the fangs sticking out of the open mouths of the fish.
“I don’t notice them much, but people from out of town always look up,” Martorella said.
Funaro weaves through the sidewalk traffic to a 116-year-old building, now an attorneys’ office. Claws of a winged dragon grip the sandstone facade, and the beast snarls from its perch toward a parking garage across the street.
Safely on the ground, Funaro walks past the creature and ducks under a low tree branch as he makes his way to Fourth Street. Turning the corner, he stands face-to-face with a giant lion at the entrance to Dollar Bank but doesn’t blink an eye.
“They don’t look ferocious,” Funaro said. “They are more warm, catlike lions.”
One large brown lion sits erect, watching visitors ascend the steps to the bank and looking toward its brother resting its head on a paw.
Across the street, dragons guard their home turf on the Fidelity Building. Puffing out their chests, fire curls out of their mouths above the arched doorways.
These creatures are not gargoyles; they’re called grotesques, because they serve no function. Gargoyles are built into a structure to spit water away from a building; today’s architects use gutters.
The few real gargoyles left in Pittsburgh are at the top of the First Presbyterian Church, Downtown. Beasts, poised with their mouths open, prepare to empty rain water toward the ground.
In contrast to the angelic and religious windows of the church, the gargoyles sneer on the outside of the building. That doesn’t bother Mary Jane Snyder, church secretary and receptionist, who finds working in the architecturally unique building awe-inspiring.
“Gargoyles serve a functional purpose,” Snyder said. “I don’t know that it would be terribly charming to have water conducted through an angel.”
Bethany Hofstetter can be reached at bhofstetter@tribweb.com or 412-380-5687.
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Costly rehab down the line
By Jim Ritchie
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 24, 2006The iconic Monongahela and Duquesne Heights inclines each day crawl up and down Mt. Washington’s steep hillside, inching ever closer to needing a costly rehabilitation.
Port Authority of Allegheny County directors say the price tag to keep the cars running could reach $40 million — and some want civic, corporate or historical groups to help pay, so the financially struggling agency isn’t forced to spend money that could be used to replace buses or light-rail cars or to pave busways.
“We’ve got to be looking at ways to generate revenue,” authority board member James Dodaro said. “It is a community asset, and it’s something the community should have an interest in preserving. It’s something that shouldn’t be a drain on the Port Authority.”
Some incline riders agree the inclines are an asset for the city and like the idea of having community groups help pay for their long-term upkeep. More than 1.1 million people use the inclines annually.
“When I go Downtown and have to do business, I use it,” said Mt. Washington resident Raymond Batykefer, who rides the Mon Incline frequently. “It’s cheaper, saves me the cost of parking, and it’s pretty efficient.”
The 136-year-old Mon Incline and 129-year-old Duquesne Heights Incline are in good working condition, and a major renovation isn’t anticipated soon. But the authority, which faces a $31.5 million deficit in its 2006-07 budget, anticipates future incline expenses.
“This board has made it a point to direct the staff to try and discover new funding streams wherever possible, and that includes funding streams for projects like this down the road,” Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said.
Port Authority could tap its capital budget — more than $200 million this year — to pay for improvements, Grove said. But any money spent on inclines is money the agency won’t have to improve bus and subway service.
Finding money elsewhere would not be easy, local nonprofit officials say.
The Allegheny Regional Asset District planned to allocate nearly $75 million this year, but largely focuses on helping parks, libraries and civic organizations — not transit or public works projects.
“There’s nothing right now that would make their application ineligible, but it would be an entirely new direction,” said David Donahoe, executive director of the asset district.
The Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau markets the region but does not help secure money.
“We do not get involved in bricks-and-mortar,” Executive Vice President Bob Imperata said. “Having said that, we’re very conscious of the need to have attractions like the Mon and Duquesne inclines. They’re very valuable assets and important tourist attractions. We market them extensively.”
The bureau has considered using the inclines as a symbol for Pittsburgh’s tourism industry, similar to San Francisco’s cable cars or the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Imperata said.
Advertising companies have pushed local officials to adopt the symbol so they could market incline trinkets, he said.
“This is so historical,” Octavia Coburn, of Rankin, said after riding the Mon Incline. “They’ve got to keep it going. People come here and look for the inclines.”
“This is Pittsburgh — the inclines,” said her husband, Donald Coburn.
Imperata suggested Port Authority might find a corporate sponsor or sell naming rights. The authority has tried to sell naming rights for its Downtown light-rail transit stations without success.
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation in 1970 declared the Mon Incline a historic structure. Foundation spokeswoman Cathy McCollom said that could help the authority seek money nationwide.
“”Many of the historic preservation grants are statewide, if not throughout the U.S.,” she said.
State grants would offer up to a few hundred thousand dollars and national grants might rise to a million dollars, she said. But getting such money is a competitive process.
One possible long-term solution used elsewhere is charging tourists more money.
The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga, Tenn., charges tourists $12 for a round-trip. Local commuters can buy a monthly pass that makes the fare about $1.25 per trip.
“One of the reasons we’re focused on it so much is, our incline generates about a million dollars of net revenue a year,” Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Tom Dugan said.
A round-trip fare on the inclines in Pittsburgh is $2.25, whether the rider is a tourist or commuter.
The Duquesne Heights Incline, although owned by Port Authority, is operated by the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Incline. The group pays for maintenance by accepting contributions from foundations and other groups.
Donahoe said the group twice applied for Regional Asset District grants and was rejected.
“I can’t imagine people concerned about historic preservation not coming together to find a way to help,” McCollom said.
Jim Ritchie can be reached at jritchie@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7933.
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Shedding light on darker days
By Kim Lyons
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 17, 2006Sitting at JP’s Cafe on East Carson Street, author and historian Stuart Boehmig paints a picture of the South Side as it was 100 years ago.
“If you sat here in 1906, you would have heard four or five different languages and seen easily that many styles of dress,” Boehmig says, gesturing toward the SouthSide Works. “But the air was so filthy and polluted from the steel mill, you could barely see the sun.”
Photos from Boehmig’s book, “Pittsburgh’s South Side” show smokestacks from the fiery steel mill that dominated the end of East Carson Street, near the Hot Metal Bridge. Its modern-day occupant is SouthSide Works.
During the course of his research, Boehmig found no photographs of mansions or large houses on the South Side. “Virtually all the buildings were the same,” he said. “It was an even playing field, and everyone was equal.”
Anyone who made any money, Boehmig said, moved away.
The first immigrants arrived on the South Side near the turn of the 19th century. They were from Eastern Europe, followed by Irish, Scots and English, Boehmig says. The first of the neighborhood’s industries was glass, then came the J & L steel mill.
“The noise of the blast furnaces was like a rocket taking off,” Boehmig said. “It completely dominated the street. I remember it as a kid. It was unbelievable.”
Eileen Zaidel, 80, has lived on the South Side most of her life and remembers the steel mill — and the noise. Her husband, Stanley, is the son of Polish immigrants, but most of her family was born in Pittsburgh, Zaidel added.
The Zaidels live on 15th Street, right near the high-end South Side Lofts. “They’re very nice,” she says.
But the changes to the South Side haven’t all been good, Zaidel said.
“It’s so, so different now,” she said. “There’s a new generation, of course, and I think they’re spoiling it a little bit — too many bars.”
Steel was an industry that most believed would thrive well into the future, so its rapid decline in the 1970s and ’80s hit the South Side hard, Boehmig said.
He finds it very unusual that a neighborhood that lost its industry did not become a desolate wasteland, as it could have, but retained its vitality.
“It speaks to the values of the people that lived here — they literally built America,” he says. “They respected hard work and worked hard for what they got. I think that attitude still exists here.”
Traces of the South Side’s first residents remain: Sarah, Sidney, Muriel, Josephine and Jane streets are named for relatives of founder John Ormsby.
Cathy McCollom, of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, says one big reason the South Side stayed mostly blue collar was its basic housing stock.
“While the mill was open, workers needed to live nearby,” she said. “When the Flats became too crowded, the inclines made it possible for people to live up on the Slopes. But it was almost all workers.”
But as the steel industry began its downward spiral, the South Side was not considered a particularly desirable place to live, Boehmig and McCollom agreed.
People who lived there stayed after the steel mill closed, Boehmig said. But wealthy people weren’t clamoring to move in and build bigger houses on the South Side. That left the neighborhood’s architecture intact, McCollom said.
“Sometimes, poverty can be a friend of preservation,” she said.
Leaving the Victorian, Italianate, Romanesque and other structures intact gave new developers a foundation on which to build.
One particularly successful renovation, Boehmig says, was Nakama Japanese Steak House at 1611 E. Carson St. The American Renaissance-style building was constructed around 1900. According to Pittsburgh History and Landmarks, the building housed the Lorch Brothers Store, which was destroyed by fire in April 1901.
The four-story building retains much of its original appearance, and the Pittsburgh City Historic Review Commission gave the owners a preservation award in 2005.
A $3 million project is under way on the upper floors of the building, which is planned as a boutique hotel. It’s slated to open in 2007.
Fat Head’s restaurant at 1805-07 E. Carson is another modern-day business in an historic location. German immigrant and “Squire of the South Side” John Henry Sorg constructed the building in 1874. He lived in its upper stories and ran his insurance and real estate business from the storefront.
The restaurant has been in the building since 1992, and its renovation retains many of the Italianate features of the original structure, according to Pittsburgh History and Landmarks.
E. Carson Street boasts the longest contiguous stretch of Victorian buildings in the country, McCollom said. “And for all the changes, the South Side has never lost its neighborhood feel.”
South Side noteworthy
1758: Pittsburgh is founded and named for British Prime Minister William Pitt
1763: King George III gives Major John Ormsby 3,000 acres of land, which later become the South Side.
1811: Ormsby’s son-in-law, Nathaniel Bedford, lays out Birmingham, now the South Side Flats.
1872: The Flats become part of the City of Pittsburgh
1854: Benjamin Franklin Jones and James Laughlin open the American Iron Works, which later becomes J&L Steel. By the 1940s the plant covers 100 acres.
1909: The South Side Branch of the Carnegie Library opens, and 10,000 people visit during the first week.
1968: LTV buys J&L Steel, which still employs 8,000 people.
1986: The LTV plant closes.
Source: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
Kim Lyons can be reached at klyons@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7922.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Sign of the times in Pittsburgh
By Andrew Johnson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 6, 2006Bayer’s neon billboard atop Duquesne Heights is the Charlie Brown of local landmarks.
It’s likeable in a hang-dog sort of way, but not really memorable or exciting. It’s just kind of up there, with little fanfare and a faded paint job that defies almost anyone to make out “P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H,” allegedly written large on the sign.“If you never went to town, you’d never know it was there,” said Frank Voch, 67, who owns the Village Dairy on Shiloh Street in Mt. Washington, on the other side of Coal Hill, a short drive from the Duquesne Heights section where the sign dwells. “I don’t ever associate that with Mt. Washington.”
But surely it must be a civic landmark, much the same way as the Hollywood sign that looks out over Los Angeles, right?
“As far as I’m aware, it’s not,” said Frank Stroker III, staff assistant of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Residents and local historians might not be lining up to take credit for the sign, but this is invariably true: The Bayer sign is the one landmark first-time Pittsburgh visitors are guaranteed to see when they attend the All-Star Game at PNC Park on Tuesday — and that’s because you can’t miss it. It’s 30 1/2 feet high and 226 1/2 feet wide. It’s as reliable as the moon in Pittsburgh at night, flashing a red neon clock, blinking a round Bayer logo and dutifully relaying nonprofits’ messages.
An estimated 250,000 people see the sign each day, according to the sign’s owner, Lamar Advertising.
“I think it’s extremely cool,” said Mark A. Ryan, spokesman for Bayer, which has leased the sign since 1993. The German company has its North American headquarters, with 1,400 employees, straddled between Robinson and North Fayette in the South Hills.
Ryan said the company looked at modernizing the sign, making it display messages during the day, but was told it would require a complete “structural change” — basically replacing the sign.
“It works,” Ryan said. So, there are no plans to change anything.
Mark Stroup, 44, of Friendship, thinks “it could use a coat of paint, or some sprucing up,” but he said there are plenty of reasons for Pittsburghers to be proud of the sign.
Stroup, who founded the Pittsburgh Signs Project, documents local signs as a kind of social record of Pittsburgh’s commercial past. Whenever a sign is so large that whole communities can see it, “it serves a positive function,” he said. The sign helps ground Pittsburgh as a distinctive, permanent place, making Pittsburghers feel at home, Stroup said.
As a bonus, “neon is perennial,” said Stroup, about a kitschy cachet the sign has acquired in old age. And if you don’t like that, the sign’s got major tread on the tires, and “people always admire things that have been there for awhile,” Stroup said.
Ken Freeman, a Lamar account executive, said records place the sign’s origin somewhere around 1928. Lamar acquired the sign in 1999.
Freeman said the sign intermittently would go for years with nobody using it. Those that have leased the billboard, memorably, through the decades: Iron City Beer in the late 1950s, and aluminum giant Alcoa for 25 years, from 1967-92.
Freeman believes it’s one of the largest neon signs in the country. Sino Land Co.’s Hong Kong sign that covers 54,175 square feet is the world’s largest, according to Guinness World Records.
The Pittsburgh sign contains a little more than one mile of neon tubing laid on galvanized steel that got its daytime quilt-like paint job in 1977, Freeman said. The sign used to be all white, but people thought it would look better painted in different colors, he said.
Freeman shrugs off the sign’s aged appearance.
You can still make out “P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H,” if you stare at it long enough, he said.
Andrew Johnson can be reached at ajohnson@tribweb.com or 412-380-5632.