Category Archive: News Wire Services
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City may demolish part of building in Market Square
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tuesday, November 29, 2005The city is proposing to partially demolish a crumbling four-story building it owns at 439 Market St. in Market Square that is viewed as a safety hazard by adjacent property owners but a candidate for restoration by preservationists.
City officials will seek permission from the Historic Review Commission next week to demolish the building’s rear facade on Graeme Street, to gut the interior, and to strip away what is left of the roof.
As part of the proposal, the city would keep the more historically significant Market Street facade intact and consider a temporary enclosure to protect the interior while more permanent improvements are determined, according to an application with the HRC.
Officials must seek HRC approval for the demolition because the building is part of the Market Square Historic District.
The structure has been a constant source of concern to adjacent property owners in Market Square, who have complained about the collapsed roof, a rat infestation, and bowed exterior walls that are in danger of falling.
Last summer, the attorney for the property owner next door at 435 Market, which houses the Ciao Baby restaurant, threatened to seek a court order to force repairs or the demolition of the building, declaring that a “public emergency” existed.
Court action was forestalled when the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation offered to lend the city up to $33,000 to repair the roof and clean up the inside of the building.
The loan amount later was increased to a maximum of $75,000 in legislation submitted to City Council. But no final determination has been made pending a more exact estimate on the cost of repairs.
At this point, the city doesn’t have the money to do the demolition or to repair the building, Public Works Director Guy Costa said.
He estimated the cost of tearing down the Graeme Street facade, gutting the interior and ripping away what is left of the roof at $29,000 to $42,000. But he said the cost could escalate to $75,000 if a temporary roof is added and the building is enclosed.
Mr. Costa said one option under consideration would be for the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority to buy the building and fund the demolition and repairs. The URA owns two adjacent buildings at 441 Market and the old Regal Shoe Co. store at Market and Fifth Avenue. He said he plans to meet with the mayor’s office and the URA to discuss that possibility.
Rob Pfaffman, president of the Preservation Pittsburgh board of directors, said the rear facade is bowing “quite substantially” and is in danger of collapsing. He said removing it would allow the city to gut the interior and take out what is left of the roof.
Preservation Pittsburgh has plans to turn the Regal Shoe building at Market and Fifth into a “transit cafe.” It also is interested in the structures at 439 and 441 Market as part of the project. It has said that both have good Market Street facades that ought to be preserved.
The URA has been holding the Regal Shoe building and the one at 441 Market for a developer as part of a proposed Fifth and Forbes make-over.
(Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.)
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Copyright ©1997-2005 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. -
Grants help churches restore their beauty
By Violet Law
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 25, 2005Rain no longer trickles down through the roof during worship services at the Pittsburgh New Church in Point Breeze.
New equipment at Zion Christian Church in Carrick allows Spanish-speaking members to understand and take part in worship services.The stained-glass windows that filter light into the sanctuary of Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Oakland have been restored to their former glory.
In its 10th year, a program by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation that offers grants and technical assistance to houses of worship to maintain their facilities has not only helped preserve historically significant architecture in the region but has strengthened congregations that have wrestled with crumbling structures.
More than 130 grants have been awarded to 88 churches in Allegheny County during the past decade.
The program, which includes historic religious properties grants and technical assistance awards, began in 1996 with seed money from the Allegheny Foundation. A survey by the foundation at the time documented more than 6,000 architecturally significant religious structures in the county.
But most couldn’t qualify for any government grants for repairs because of the constitutional separation between church and state.
“The buildings were growing older, and their needs are increasing,” said Cathy McCollom, the foundation’s chief programs officer. She said that through the grant program, “we’ve been able to build the relationships with churches and watch their progress.”
The grants range from $2,000 to $8,000 and require matching donations from the receiving congregations. For those who have been awarded the grants, many repeatedly, these dollars have made a big impact.
When the Bellefield Presbyterian Church board members solicited bids several years ago to repair all of the Oakland church’s stained-glass windows, they found the price tag — roughly $400,000 — staggering.
But after seven grants, which totaled $20,650, the church’s members have mended the 15 windows that surround the sanctuary. They also received professional advice on masonry work on the sandstone facade.
“The most significant for us is that it has enabled us to keep the momentum going,” said Susan Norman, the church’s volunteer treasurer. The matching donation requirement, Norman said, has kept the congregation focused on budgeting the money where it is most needed and helped it chip away at what seems to be a gargantuan project. “It’s a good way to keep it moving along,” she said.
At Zion Christian Church in Carrick, a portion of one of the four grants awarded paid for a translation broadcasting unit, which helps Spanish-speaking members — who account for at least one-fifth of the church’s attendance — to follow the sermons and announcements.
With an $8,000 grant in 2004, the members of Pittsburgh New Church have patched up the long-deteroriating slate roof and don’t have to use buckets to catch the drops from the sanctuary. The new $8,000 grant will help repoint the masonry and fix the steeple.
“Now we can focus on religious and spiritual things,” said Steve David, who heads the church’s maintenance committee. “We’re not as much about the building as we’re about the congregation.”
Violet Law can be reached at vlaw@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7884.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Students take on architecture
By Bob Stiles
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 28, 2005Shannon Page likes ugly buildings.
“I love to make them look pretty,” she said.Page and about 150 other Southwestern Pennsylvania students will get the chance — at least on paper and in a model — to improve the looks of one building, the former Bugzy’s Bagel shop in Greensburg.
The students are participating in the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation’s 10th annual Architectural Design Challenge, which is being held in Westmoreland County for the first time.
“I like to put things together and make things better than they use to be,” Page, a Belle Vernon Area High School sophomore, said of why she takes part in the competition. “And I like to make them more appealing to the senses.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday, middle and high school students from about a dozen school districts, most in Westmoreland County, examined the exterior of the former bagel shop on West Pittsburgh Street. They also toured nearby structures, including the Palace Theatre.
The competition requires the students to come up with a use for the building — one that they anticipate would please and attract the public. They then must redesign the building, depict that revamped structure in a model and present their ideas to a panel of judges.
Judging will be held in February for both the middle and high school students at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center.
Among the criteria used in the evaluation are the project’s feasibility and the creativity of the students. Other factors are the accuracy of the model and the effectiveness of the oral presentation.
In the competition, the students must keep in mind how their new design would fit in with surrounding structures — the reason for touring the nearby buildings, officials said.
Foundation officials said they brought the competition from Allegheny County, where it previously was held, to Greensburg because of the strong interest shown in the past by Westmoreland County schools.
“These kids are incredible,” said Louise Sturgess, the foundation’s executive director. “What they’re able to do is amazing.”
To attract customers, Page and her six schoolmates are considering turning Bugzy’s into a restaurant with structural features from the 1930s and ’40s.
“And to attract more people, we want to put shops around it,” Page said.
Antique stores, which are proposed for a parking lot that adjoins Bugzy’s, are especially being considered by her group, Page said.
The team that Page was on last year finished third in the competition, with a museum it proposed for Point State Park in Pittsburgh.
“We were close, but we’ve never actually won. Hopefully, this is our year,” Page said.
Sara Yates, 17, a Yough senior who hopes one day to be involved in government, said she isn’t as interested in architecture as she is on the effects of construction on a community and its government.
The competition — her fourth — also is a blast, she said.
“I just think it’s fun,” Yates said. “I like building the model and presenting it. I like public speaking.”
The Franklin Regional team that Andrew Skoff, 14, was on last year finished second in the competition. The freshman is participating in the challenge — his third — because he is interested in architectural engineering.
“I like the planning, the thought process that goes into it,” Skoff said.
His team was considering turning the Greensburg building into a bookstore with a cafe and outside garden.
The students learned about zoning and other building-related regulations from representatives of the Westmoreland County Historical Society, the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, the Greensburg Planning Department and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture. The officials also shared their views on what Greensburg and its surrounding communities are like.
Linda Kubas, Palace Theatre manager, said the tour of Greensburg’s downtown was to help the students to design a building that conforms to the other structures in the community.
“It’s to blend into the use and the character of downtown Greensburg,” she said of the students’ building.
Greensburg planner Barbara Ciampini told the high school students that Bugzy’s closed several years ago, and the structure previously was used as a bar.
“It was a vibrant corner,” Ciampini said. “It would be great to see that once again.”
Bob Stiles can be reached at bstiles@tribweb.com or (724) 836-6622.
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National Trust will plumb Pittsburgh preserves
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 6, 2005The last time the National Trust for Historic Preservation held its annual conference in Pittsburgh, the idea of revitalizing city neighborhoods meant bulldozing old buildings and replacing them with modern structures.
But the collapse of the steel industry in the decades following the trust’s 1961 conference here killed most of those plans.
The city’s economic misfortunes forced Pittsburghers to work with what they had — thousands of turn-of-the-century buildings that, though rundown, were relatively unchanged from the time they were built.
Next fall, thousands of historic preservationists from around the country will get the chance to see how Pittsburgh managed to remake itself without throwing out the old for the new.
“Around the country there is great interest among preservationists to see what the restoration of historic buildings has done to help revitalize inner cities,” said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“I think a lot of the people who come here next year will be surprised at the degree to which historic preservation has weaved itself into the fabric of so many neighborhoods,” Ziegler said.
Ziegler, who recently returned from the trust’s national conference in Portland, Ore., submitted the application for the trust to hold its 2006 conference here between Oct. 31 and Nov. 5.
Peter Brink, senior vice president for programs at the National Trust, said Pittsburgh was selected from among seven other Northeastern U.S. cities because of its “impressive preservation story.”
“We are particularly interested in the fact that many of the neighborhoods where historic preservation has occurred was done by and for the residents,” Brink said.
Another area that captured the trust’s attention was the “incredible adaptive reuse” of former industrial and commercial buildings in Pittsburgh, Brink said.
“We’re excited about learning more about how the old post office (on the North Side) was turned into a Children’s Museum, and a former mattress factory is now a theater,” Brink said.
Architect Michael Eversmeyer, chairman of the city’s Historic Review Commission, said interest in restoring older buildings often is driven by the “character” that modern construction often lacks.
“There’s certain visual elements that are very appealing in these old buildings,” said Eversmeyer. “The ornamentation and materials that were used — stained glass, carved woodwork and trim, ornamental plaster and stonework — while available on new buildings, are often financially out of reach for many people.”
The Historic Review Commission initially planned to change its November 2006 meeting so it did not conflict with the trust’s conference but now is considering holding it so attendees can “see how things are done here,” Eversmeyer said.
In addition to an array of programs that will be conducted during the conference at the Pittsburgh Hilton, field seminars will be held in neighborhoods including Manchester, the North Side, the South Side and Lawrenceville and in towns outside the city such as Uniontown in Fayette County.
Preservationists also plan to illustrate failed efforts to revitalize city neighborhoods by plowing under older buildings.
“All we have to do is look at what happened when they replaced the old market house on the North Side with Allegheny Center Mall, or the construction of the high-rises and outdoor mall that killed East Liberty for proof that new is not always better,” said Dennis Freeland, real estate marketing specialist for the North Side Leadership Conference.
Tony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Accord reached on old churches, ‘Sensitive’ reuse of buildings sought
By Patricia Lowry,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Saturday, October 01, 2005When the Church Brew Works opened in the former St. John the Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese officials were not happy to see gleaming steel and copper brew tanks on the site of the former altar and patrons sipping beers under religious-themed windows.
Now a new, informal partnership between the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and the diocese aims to encourage a more sensitive reuse of religious buildings. It may be the first such agreement of its kind.
The two organizations, which traditionally have found themselves on opposite sides of historic preservation battles, have agreed to work together on the sale and reuse of churches, rectories, convents, schools and other buildings owned by the diocese.
Sealed with a handshake, it’s only a gentlemen’s agreement, but one that could have a significant impact on the future of religious buildings in Allegheny County.
“It’s two people who trust one another and respect one another, which is the way I think agreements used to be made,” said diocesan spokesman the Rev. Ron Lengwin, who entered the agreement with Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of Landmarks.
Under terms of the partnership, Landmarks will have an opportunity to purchase churches and other buildings the diocese no longer needs.
Although selling to other religious groups is always the first choice, Lengwin said, each case is unique, and Landmarks sometimes may have the first opportunity to purchase a building.
“They are part of the process,” he said.
The preservation group will review the buildings and decide if it has any interest in purchasing them for reuse. If not, it will assist in marketing the buildings and possibly fund adaptive reuse studies, if they are needed.
The agreement has been in the works for several years, said Cathy McCollom, Landmarks’ chief programs officer. In 2002, when the diocese began lobbying City Council for legislation stipulating that only the owner of a religious building could nominate it for city historic designation, Landmarks approached the diocese.
“We began talking to Father Lengwin about what could be done to address their concerns and our concerns,” McCollom said.
The legislation, sponsored by then-Councilman Bob O’Connor, passed in 2003.
In the new agreement, Landmarks has pledged not to nominate diocesan buildings to either the National Register of Historic Places or for city historic designation without the consent of the diocese.
“We mentioned it in case the legislation is ever changed,” McCollom said.
The diocese will begin to participate in Landmarks’ Historic Religious Properties Program, which began in 1993 and provides grants and technical assistance for the preservation of religious buildings in Allegheny County.
The diocese also will begin to accept the plaques Landmarks produces to call attention to historic buildings.
If potential buyers are interested in pursuing National Register historic designation and the federal tax credit that comes with it, the diocese will work with Landmarks to seek designation.
The diocese retains the right to remove interior or exterior religious symbols or artwork, including stained glass windows with religious themes, baptismal fonts and statues.
In the case of the St. John the Baptist Church, which closed in 1993 and became the Brew Works, “We were assured that all of the sacred items had been removed” before the sale, Lengwin said. “In fact, that was not true. We learned a good lesson, that we needed to go in and look at the church before it was marketed for sale.”
The facility opened in 1996 as a microbrewery and it maintains a steady clientele.
St. John’s windows are a comfort to some Church Brew Works patrons, said Phillip Moran, who manages the restaurant’s dining room.
“They feel very happy that they can come and see them. It makes them remember their family, because [their ancestors’] names are at the bottom of the windows. And they end up telling you a story about when they came to church or school here, or their family did.”
Lengwin said Landmarks looked at two worship sites in St. John Vianney parish that closed last month, St. Canice Church in Knoxville and St. Henry Church in Arlington.
“These are possibly the first buildings the agreement would have an impact on,” he said. “A developer is looking at those two buildings and they might be sold. I’m not sure what the uses would be, but it’s a developer that we have confidence in.”
In Ambridge, three closed churches “are in various stages of perhaps being sold,” including one to a congregation of another faith, Lengwin said. “Landmarks won’t have an impact there. But there will be other buildings in the future for which we look to this agreement with great hope.”
“This is perhaps the only such agreement between preservationists and the Roman Catholic church,” Ziegler said, “and we are pleased to have been part of it, setting a model for others who are trying to preserve such structures.”
(Patricia Lowry can be reached at plowry@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1590.)
Copyright ©1997-2005 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette
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Wilkinsburg housing project gains approval
By Sam Spatter
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 29, 2005Another project to improve the housing inventory in Wilkinsburg has been approved by the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority.
The authority on Wednesday authorized the county’s Economic Development Department to move ahead on the Peebles (Street) Square project, which involves the rehabilitation or construction of 12 to 14 houses in that area.
In July, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation joined with Wilkinsburg Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, in a separate project to revitalize housing in a six-block area near St. James Church, known as Hamnett Place neighborhood.
For the Peebles project, the authority will seek $1 million in acquisition funds from the state and apply to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency for about $2 million to assist the developer, Action-Housing, in the project.
“About four of the houses are occupied, two by owners, but the rest are either vacant or boarded-up, or the site vacant,” said Dennis Davin, the Economic Development Department’s executive director.
The overall cost of the program is about $5.6 million, with new houses selling for about $75,000 and rehabilitated houses, $65,000. The authority plans to provide a second mortgage of about $20,000, which is paid only upon resale of the house, he said.
The Hamnett Place neighborhood project includes rehabilitation of six abandoned buildings along Jeanette Street to create opportunities for new single-family housing.
Allegheny County is providing $500,000 for the project, and the History & Landmarks Foundation, and the state, will provide matching funds.
Cathy McCollom, the foundation’s chief programs officer, estimates the cost to redo the initial six properties could range between $90,000 and $130,000 per unit.
Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Wilkinsburg housing project gains approval
By Sam Spatter
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 29, 2005Another project to improve the housing inventory in Wilkinsburg has been approved by the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority.
The authority on Wednesday authorized the county’s Economic Development Department to move ahead on the Peebles (Street) Square project, which involves the rehabilitation or construction of 12 to 14 houses in that area.
In July, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation joined with Wilkinsburg Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, in a separate project to revitalize housing in a six-block area near St. James Church, known as Hamnett Place neighborhood.
For the Peebles project, the authority will seek $1 million in acquisition funds from the state and apply to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency for about $2 million to assist the developer, Action-Housing, in the project.
“About four of the houses are occupied, two by owners, but the rest are either vacant or boarded-up, or the site vacant,” said Dennis Davin, the Economic Development Department’s executive director.
The overall cost of the program is about $5.6 million, with new houses selling for about $75,000 and rehabilitated houses, $65,000. The authority plans to provide a second mortgage of about $20,000, which is paid only upon resale of the house, he said.
The Hamnett Place neighborhood project includes rehabilitation of six abandoned buildings along Jeanette Street to create opportunities for new single-family housing.
Allegheny County is providing $500,000 for the project, and the History & Landmarks Foundation, and the state, will provide matching funds.
Cathy McCollom, the foundation’s chief programs officer, estimates the cost to redo the initial six properties could range between $90,000 and $130,000 per unit.
Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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St. Paul’s Cathedral prepares for facelift
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW REAL ESTATE WRITER
Saturday, September 10, 2005On the threshold of its 100th birthday, St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland is due for a major restoration.
The landmark church building, located along Fifth Avenue on a block bordered by North Craig and North Dithridge streets, is to undergo a multimillion-dollar rehabilitation expected to be completed in time for its anniversary celebration in October 2006.“This is the mother church for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, and hopefully this work will help preserve its legacy for hundreds of years to come,” said the Rev. Donald P. Breier, rector and pastor.
“This has to be done to preserve the structural integrity of the building as a safety factor, not only for those who worship at the cathedral, but for people passing by.”
A Sunday church bulletin for St. Paul’s approximately 1,700 member families explained the work will include reinforcing the two front towers of the Flemish Gothic style cathedral with new steel interior girders, rebuilding four side towers and repairing or replacing exterior stonework.
In addition, the entire building will be re-pointed and cleaned.
Breier said he hopes the work will begin in October and be complete within seven months.
Normal church operations won’t be affected, he said.
Preliminary cost estimates for the project range from $5 million to $10 million, but aren’t final, he said.
A planned fundraising campaign is temporarily on hold because of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast.
“Funding will be delayed for a time so that people’s focus can be on the tremendous need for hurricane victims,” Breier said.
Cathy McCollom, program officer for the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said the foundation designated the cathedral a historic landmark in 1975.
“The twin spires of St. Paul’s Cathedral are prominent, familiar objects on the Oakland skyline, establishing the eastern part of the neighborhood,” McCollom said.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review