Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Time running out to meet under Kaufmann’s clock
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 29, 2005For many of Kaufmann’s most devoted customers — especially those who frequent the Downtown store on Smithfield Street — the change to a Macy’s moniker likely won’t change shopping habits that, for some, have been decades in the making.
Some business experts believe customer loyalty and a new association with a retailer that has a strong history of its own could ease the transition.
“Certainly, some people will see the change in names as the loss of something that is a major part of Pittsburgh’s history,” said Marc Jampole, of Jampole Communications, a marketing company Downtown. “But the fact that Macy’s is a well-known and respected name in retailing is a plus that should make the transition a little easier.”
Federated Department Stores Inc. announced Thursday that Kaufmann’s and many other regional department names will disappear next year, after it completes its deal for May Department Stores Co. The landmark Downtown Kaufmann’s and several suburban stores will become Macy’s.
Cathy McCollom of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation believes that because the Downtown store will remain open, it could play an important role in Pittsburghers’ acceptance of the name change.
“The memories that are triggered when people talk about Kaufmann’s — meeting friends under the Kaufmann’s clock or going to see the window displays during the holidays — are very much attached to the building itself,” McCollom said.
“Sure, the name is a big part of it because it’s been around so long,” she said. “But in a sense, the building is the source for many of those fond memories. The fact that people still will be able to see it, and still be able to shop there, is very important in minimizing whatever sense of loss they may be feeling.”
People who view the Downtown Kaufmann’s as their primary shopping destination said they will continue to patronize the store when it becomes a Macy’s.
“I’ve been coming here to shop since I moved to Pittsburgh in 1971,” said Catherine Thomas, 87, of Shadyside. “There’s still something special about coming Downtown to shop, and the store has a nice selection and the service is good.”
Maryann Finotti, of Emsworth, said she began shopping at Kaufmann’s when she was a child and still thinks it’s one of the region’s better retailers.
“Oh, I have wonderful memories of when I was a little girl, and my mother and aunt and I would dress up to come shopping Downtown,” said Finotti, 62, who worked at the store while she attended Duquesne University in the mid-1960s. “I still come down to shop here every Saturday and sometimes during the week. I’ll keep coming as long as they don’t change things too much.”
Jampole believes maintaining or improving the quality, service and selection of merchandise will be critical to easing the transition to the Macy’s name.
“It’s always a risky business when you change a name, especially when there are so many years invested in a brand,” he said. “The Kaufmann’s name is so much a part of Pittsburgh, and it has long been associated with a certain level of quality. Any changes will have to be focused on providing the same, or better, experience for the customer.”
Jackie Snell, professor of marketing at San Jose University in San Jose, Calif., predicts that Pittsburghers will grow nostalgic about the Kaufmann’s name, but will “get over it.”
“It’s difficult to predict what will happen when there is a collective loss of something that has been associated with a community for so long,” Snell said. “But Macy’s has a pretty solid reputation as a retailer, so I think there is a great chance that the name change will not have a deep negative effect.”
Tony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Landmarks group aids in Wilkinsburg
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW REAL ESTATE WRITER
Wednesday, July 20, 2005The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has joined an effort to preserve a number of older, abandoned buildings in Wilkinsburg.
The local foundation and community leaders say the wrecking ball is not the best way to deal with some Wilkinsburg structures that may be architecturally noteworthy or historically significant and able to be restored to worthwhile use.
Such efforts are favored by Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato as a way to help rebuild the tax base in Wilkinsburg and other financially struggling “ring” communities just outside Pittsburgh such as Braddock and Rankin, said Dennis Davin, the county’s economic development director.
“This is a very valuable and exciting relationship,” said Denise Edwards, a Wilkinsburg councilwoman and a participant in the Wilkinsburg Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. “This is an effort to retain the integrity of the community and make it economically feasible to restore this neighborhood.”
Patterned after a program used in Philadelphia, the effort is focused on revitalizing a six-block area near St. James Church known as the Hamnett Place neighborhood, said Cathy McCollom, the foundation’s chief programs officer.
As an alternative to demolition, plans are to rehabilitate six abandoned buildings along Jeanette Street and offer them for sale to create opportunities for new single-family housing.
The foundation, which is acting as developer and project manager, hopes to acquire the properties in the next several months and start work by early next year.
Two of the buildings — 520 and 522 Jeanette — will be completely restored, including interior finishes, while two others — 508 and 516 Jeanette — will undergo “shell rehab” including an exterior renovation and installation of utility connections. Interior finishes will be left for a new owner, McCollom said.
The remaining two — 517 and 524 Jeanette — which are in the worst condition, will be cleaned and their structures stabilized, with repairs for the roof, foundation and windows.
The hope is to convince other developers or individuals to acquire or restore other properties and spark additional revitalization in Wilkinsburg.
The buildings targeted for restoration have been abandoned for some time and their condition is detrimental to the rest of the neighborhood, said Wilkinsburg resident Zita Ann Berry, a member of a project steering committee comprised of about 40 to 50 people.
“There are some lovely restored houses already in Wilkinsburg,” she said. “We’ve had an influx of young people who have been updating and done wonderful things with some old Victorian houses here.”
“Wilkinsburg has many fine buildings, houses particularly,” added Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., the landmarks foundation president.
The foundation became involved about 18 months ago after residents became concerned about a development proposal that called for extensive demolition in the area, which also includes parts of Lamar, Rebecca and Whitney avenues and Mulberry Street, McCollom said.
She is a member of Allegheny County’s Vacant Property Commission, which reviews such plans in various communities.
“When I saw some of these buildings had some good bones, so to speak, I realized that rehabilitation was possible,” McCollom said.
After discussions with community officials, including Mayor Wilbert Young, a study conducted by the foundation and community volunteers identified 54 parcels in the area, of which 19 were unoccupied buildings, five were vacant lots and eight were tax delinquent.
In addition to restoration, the study recommended clearing some of those unoccupied properties for new construction, parking or green space.
An overall budget is not finalized, but McCollom estimated the cost to redo the initial six properties could range between $90,000 and $130,000 per unit.
Allegheny County has agreed to provide about $500,000 for the project, said Davin, the county’s economic development director. Matching funds will come from the Landmarks Foundation and probably the state, he 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
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County’s purchase of Carrie Furnace property sparks visions of past and changes to come
By Ann Belser,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday, June 16, 2005The potential of Carrie Furnace truly is in the eye of the beholder.
When August R. Carlino looks at the furnace, he sees a representation of the history of steelmaking.
When Charles H. Starrett III sees the property, he sees the future of economic revitalization for the Mon Valley.
The announcement Monday by Chief Executive Dan Onorato that Allegheny County has reached an agreement with the Park Corp. to purchase the furnace and 137 acres for $5.75 million brought people with many visions of the area together on the site.
“This is where our fathers and grandfathers worked,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale, whose grandfather worked at Carrie Furnace for 40 years. His father worked across Braddock at the Edgar Thomson Works for 31 years. He said their labor, like that of so many others in the mill, made it possible for his generation to go to college.
Standing on the ground where his grandfather worked, Doyle said his generation will be the one to preserve that history.
“This is a good day and this site will be developed in our lifetime,” Doyle said. “We’re going to leave this better for our kids and grandkids and they’re going to know what our parents and grandparents went through.”
Doyle’s bill to make Carrie Furnace a national historic site has been passed twice by the U.S. House of Representatives. He introduced the measure again Monday afternoon and said this year he was going to try to get U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., to get the measure through the Senate.
And now the pressure is really on Carlino, the president of the Steel Industry Heritage Corp., to get the money to refurbish the old blast furnaces that make up Carrie Furnace.
County Executive Dan Onorato said it’s up to Carlino and his group to raise the money needed to turn the furnaces, which are rusting and have trees growing from the upper levels, into a historic site.
The heritage corporation has estimated that the stabilization and renovations of the furnaces, built in 1907, would cost about $78 million. The renovation will include a series of walkways around the furnaces.
“We’ve got all of our hard work ahead of us now,” Carlino said.
But while some are interested in the past, Starrett, the coordinator of the Enterprise Zone Corp. of Braddock, said the redevelopment of the 137-acre site, which includes some land in Munhall and Whitaker, will help spur the redevelopment of Braddock and Rankin. The plan that was developed for the site extends along the north bank of the Monongahela River from Swissvale to the Edgar Thomson Works in North Braddock and includes land between Braddock Avenue and the river in Braddock.
“This is all a state enterprise zone area,” Starrett said. He said that means that any companies that chose to locate there would qualify for state and county financing programs with 3 percent interest and qualifying companies can get a 20 percent state tax credit on property acquisition and construction costs.
The Carrie Furnace property probably will not be ready for new construction for at least 18 months while the county cleans up any environmental problems left over from years of producing iron on the site.
Onorato said Tuesday that at least the county would be moving toward redeveloping the land instead of letting it sit idle.
“A year and a half is nothing considering the steel mill left in 1983,” he said.
The redevelopment plan calls for a residential development on the property in Swissvale and the historic site with a hotel and conference center, offices, and a transportation center all in Rankin. Braddock would have areas in which more housing is built to fill in where some of the older homes have been abandoned or demolished and near the Edgar Thomson Works the county has planned to locate light industry and warehouses.
The overall redevelopment in the three boroughs encompasses 205 acres.
County Economic Development Director Dennis Davin said work has to be done to spruce up the area near Carrie Furnace. On Monday, as the dignitaries and members of the media were driving to the site, the signs to the Carrie Furnace directed them right past a home that was being demolished and through a neighborhood in which many of the buildings have been left neglected.
Davin said while the former steel site is being cleaned, Braddock Avenue is going to be spruced up, including the buildings at 849, 851 and 853 Braddock Ave. that had been renovated by the Braddock Enhancement Task Force but have been left vacant and need further renovations. Davin said the county’s Department of Human Services plans to move offices in there.
Another move on Braddock Avenue will be to create an entrance for UPMC Braddock on the Braddock Avenue site of the building. Currently that is the back side of the hospital and functions as a loading area while patients and visitors enter from Holland Avenue, a parallel street one block up the hill from Braddock Avenue.
(Ann Belser can be reached at abelser@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699.)
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Central Catholic setting the stage
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, June 6, 2005A $1.8 million renovation of the Central Catholic High School auditorium is being paid for with a donation by alumnus John McGonigle, chief legal officer of Downtown-based Federated Investors.
Little has changed at Central Catholic High School since it opened in Oakland in 1927.
The Christian Brothers still provide the school’s educational and spiritual foundation. Dress shirts and ties remain the order of the day. And recreation after lunch periods consists of walking the quad.
A major change, however, is under way in the Flemish Gothic style building on Fifth Avenue, which the city has designated a historic landmark.
Workers are restoring the school’s 900-seat auditorium to its original appearance while adding modern features to enhance performances.
A Mass and performance to mark the completion of the work is scheduled for Aug. 21.
The $1.8 million project is being paid for with a donation from John McGonigle, who graduated from Central in 1956. McGonigle, 67, is chief legal officer of Downtown-based Federated Investors.
McGonigle’s father, Henry, graduated from Central in 1933. His sons also are graduates, Kevin in 1982 and Patrick in 1985.
“As I’m sure it did for other Central graduates, the auditorium played an important role in my life as a student,” McGonigle said. “I have many fond memories of celebrations of liturgies, musical productions, pep rallies and other activities.”
“In thinking about this project,” McGonigle said, “I realized that one of my own personal goals was to see the auditorium restored to its original condition, returning it to what it must have looked like on the first day of school in 1927.”
Brother Richard Grzeskiewicz, the school’s principal, believes the work being done at the school is “a good sign for the future of Catholic schools in the area.”
“I think it shows that we are building for the future,” Grzeskiewicz said. “We are truly indebted to the McGonigle family for their overwhelming generosity in funding this project.
Central’s enrollment is expected to be 843 students for the 2005-06 school year. The school’s capacity is 880.
Grzeskiewicz said the renovations to what will be called McGonigle Auditorium are particularly important because many of the programs conducted there, such as plays and concerts, involve students from nearby Oakland Catholic High School, which is an all-girls school.
“The performing arts programs are vital in creating a strong bond between the two schools,” Grzeskiewicz said.
Work on the auditorium includes cleaning the red brick, which is set in a herringbone pattern throughout much of the interior, and restoring painted surfaces to their original hues.
One of the most painstaking restoration processes has been cleaning the orange, green and blue-colored wood slats in the ceiling, which originally were finished with an animal fat-based paint that typically cannot be repainted.
“We learned that trying to paint the ceiling wouldn’t work, so workmen had to get up there and clean each of the sections with a vacuum,” said Richard Fosbrink, who heads the school’s performing arts program.
Among the biggest changes is the addition of air conditioning and the replacement of the tattered seats with thick-cushioned, theater-style seats that will be spread out to provide more leg room.
A good deal of the work being done in the auditorium is taking place behind the scenes but will be clear to those who attend performances there.
A modern sound system using linear array speakers set in clusters throughout the room will be installed along with computer-controlled lighting and rigging systems.
“It’s very exciting to see this wonderful room, with all its history, coming back to life,” Fosbrink said. “And the addition of state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems will allow us to improve the quality of our performances and teach the students much more about the operations of a theater, which is our primary focus.”
Tony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com.
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Historic designation OK’d for Buhl building
By The Tribune Review
Wednesday, May 4, 2005The Pittsburgh Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a historic designation for the former Buhl Planetarium building on the North Side.
Built in 1939 on the site of the former Allegheny City Hall and donated to the city by the Buhl Foundation, it was among the first planetariums in the country.
The square structure of Indiana limestone topped by a copper dome was spared when the heart of the North Side was razed in the 1960s to make way for the Allegheny Center. After a decade of dormancy, the planetarium building has since 2004 been incorporated into the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. The designation now needs the approval of City
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City group honors preservation efforts
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 3, 2005Dan Sufak paid little attention to the Victorian details of his family’s Round the Corner Tavern when he would slip in the backdoor for a sandwich as a schoolboy in the 1950s.
But when he and his wife, Susan, bought the Lawrenceville bar and hotel in 1984 — 90 years after it first opened — they vowed to undo decades of neglect to restore the features that set the Butler Street building apart from scores of other neighborhood watering holes.
“I always hated the way the placed looked,” Sufak, 61, said of the oldest continuously operating bar in Pittsburgh. “It’s a unique building, but a lot of bad things were done to it for a long time.”
Susan Sufak, 60, said she and her husband were embarrassed about the way the building looked. “So when everybody around here started fixing up their properties a few years ago, we decided to do ours,” she said. “We didn’t want it to be known as the ugliest place on the street.”
The Sufaks are among 20 property owners in the city who will be honored Friday at the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission’s 22nd annual preservation awards ceremony.
“Unlike some parts of the country, Pittsburgh has not had a substantial amount of government money available for people who want to do historic preservation,” said Angelique Bamberg, the city’s historic preservation planner. “We feel it’s important to recognize people who have taken the initiative and used private funds to preserve the historic fabric of our communities.”
Local historic preservationists say the restoration of older structures pays financial and cultural dividends.
“When Americans travel, it often is to historic cities,” said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “We love to walk the streets of London, and visit the sites in Rome and Paris. The older buildings in this region are part of our cultural heritage. They are worth saving.”
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, a longtime activist in preserving the city’s historic buildings, said even if people cannot see the cultural benefits of saving older buildings, they should recognize the economic value.
“A decade ago, if anybody would have said lofts in older Lawrenceville buildings would be selling for $200,000- $250,000, they would have been laughed at,” said Ferlo, D-Highland Park, who serves on the state’s Historic and Museum Commission. “There clearly are tremendous development opportunities in historic preservation.”
Ziegler said attempts to revitalize Pittsburgh neighborhoods by replacing historic structures with new ones generally have failed, while efforts to restore older buildings have succeeded.
“Station Square has worked, Allegheny Center Mall didn’t,” Ziegler said. “The restoration of homes in the Mexican War Streets has been a success, while efforts in the 1960s to remake East Liberty with modern housing units failed.”
The loss of buildings with architectural treatments that cannot be reproduced are not the only casualties of demolition.
“When the old Market House on the North Side was torn down for Allegheny Center Mall, we lost what was the vital core of a community for 100 years,” Ziegler said.
“And the same thing happened with the absurd idea of putting a pedestrian mall in East Liberty. It seems that nearly every time we try replacing the old with the new, it’s a failure. I think there’s a lesson there.”
Honorees
Projects that will be honored at the 22nd Annual Preservation Awards ceremony at noon Friday in Pittsburgh City Council chambers, 414 Grant St., Fifth Floor.
901 Allegheny Ave., Allegheny West — The Pittsburgh Presbytery
Owner: The Rev. Dr. James Mead, the Pittsburgh Presbytery
Architect: MacLachlan, Cornelius and Filoni Architects Inc.307, 313 and 315 Terminal Way, South Side
Owner: Pittsburgh Terminal Properties
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group900 East Carson St., South Side — George C. Cupples Stadium
Owner: Pittsburgh Board of Public Education
Architects: John A. Martine, Alan J. Cuteri, and Sean Beasley — STRADA1290 Mifflin Road, Lincoln Place — Mifflin Elementary School
Owner: Pittsburgh Board of Public Education
Architects: John A. Martine, Alan J. Cuteri and Cas Pelligrini — STRADA2000 E. Carson St., South Side — Southside Steaks
Tenant: Marc Feldstein
Architect: Jason Roth, Hanson Design Group1609-13 E. Carson St., South Side — Former Lorch’s Department Store
Owner: 17th Street Partners
Architect: David Morgan, Morgan Associates Architects4720 Fifth Ave., Oakland — Central Catholic High School
Owners: Catholic Institute of Pittsburgh, Diocese of Pittsburgh
Architects: David Brenenborg and Charles Brown, Brenenborg Brown Group315 Shady Ave., Shadyside — Parish House at Calvary Episcopal Church
Owners: Calvary Episcopal Church
Architects: Kent Edwards and David L. Ross, The Design Alliance Architects4905 Fifth Ave., Oakland — Rodef Shalom Temple
Owners: Rodef Shalom Congregation
Architects: David L. Ross and Bradley Smith, The Design Alliance Architects1535 Lincoln Ave., Lincoln-Lemington — Powerhouse Full Gospel Holiness Church
Owner: Powerhouse Full Gospel Holiness Church
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group410-16 North Craig St., Oakland — The Luna Lofts
Owner: 410-416 North Craig Street, LP
Architect: Dutch McDonald, EDGE Studio6101 Penn Ave., East Liberty — Former Liberty Bank Building
Owner: Liberty Bank Building, LP
Architect: Dutch McDonald, EDGE Studio5501 Elgin St., Highland Park — King Estate or Baywood
Owner: Dr. and Mrs. Frank H. Brown3718-20 Butler St., Lawrenceville — Round Corner Tavern and Hotel
Owner: Dan and Susan Sufak
Architect: Keith H. Cochran, Cochran Associates Architects3519 Butler St., Lawrenceville
Owner: 3811 Associates
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group5165 Butler St., Lawrenceville
Owner: Wylie Holdings, LP
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group5166 Butler St., Lawrenceville
Owner: Wylie Holdings, LP
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group5169 Butler St., Lawrenceville
Owner: Wylie Holdings, L.P.
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group4054 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville
Owner: Elizabeth Beroes
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design Group145 44th St., Lawrenceville
Owner: William Cornell
Architect: Jill Flannery Joyce, Joyce Design GroupTony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com.
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Route 28 redesign relies on railroad
By Jim Ritchie
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 27, 2005Norfolk Southern Railway Co. is negotiating with PennDOT to provide land for widening Route 28 in Pittsburgh, which could speed commute times and possibly spare the vacant St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church.
Only a sidewalk separates St. Nicholas — the nation’s first Croatian Catholic church — from the busy highway, which PennDOT plans to rebuild from Millvale to the North Side in 2008. The project, previously estimated to cost up to $200 million, would add shoulders to the narrow highway and eliminate traffic signals at the 31st and 40th Street bridges that cause traffic tie-ups.
“It’s bits and pieces of other designs,” said Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, PennDOT’s assistant district executive for design. “We’re trying to please all of the stakeholders, and we think this alignment will please most of the traveling public, property owners and community groups.”
PennDOT would not divulge more details of its plan, but said it would reveal the design this summer, likely in July.
“We don’t want to go out to the public until we know what the railroad says,” Moon-Sirianni said. “Once we hear back from the railroad, we’ll have a better sense of where we’re going.”
Railway spokeswoman Susan Terpay declined to discuss details of the proposal because it involved a possible real estate transaction. “We continue to have ongoing negotiations with them, and we are reviewing the first draft of their proposed plans,” she said.
There’s just one hitch that has former St. Nicholas parishioners concerned: The project would close the church’s driveway from Route 28 and, so far, the new design does not provide for a replacement.
Members of the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation, which wants to preserve and reopen the church, lobbied PennDOT a week ago to build a new access road. They fear the absence of a new road in the design means PennDOT might use the church property, especially if talks with the railroad fall through.
“It’s essential that the access road go in,” said Robert Sladack, of Reserve, who belongs to the group. “On the more recent preliminary design, it was not listed.”
PennDOT has not ruled out building the access road, which could be added in later versions of the design, said Moon-Sirianni.
“Nothing’s been decided,” she said. “Everything is still on the table.”
Rebuilding Route 28, which is used by about 60,000 drivers each day, became an engineering nightmare in the last several years. Most problems are linked to the highway’s narrow path in the city. Numerous buildings, including the church and the Millvale Industrial Park, line one side of Route 28, while the railroad tracks border the other side. Behind the row of buildings is a steep hillside climbing up to Troy Hill.
In order for the new Route 28 to carry high-speed traffic through the city the way the Parkways North and East do, PennDOT must build shoulders on both sides to improve safety. Adding the shoulders likely would increase speed limits to 50-55 mph, from 35-40 mph.
PennDOT’s initial plan called for leveling the church to make enough room for a faster, four-lane highway. Churchgoers and preservationist groups objected and PennDOT decided to find alternatives.
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh closed the church in December and moved the parish to a Millvale church, but formed a group to research other possible uses, said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, a diocesan spokesman. The diocese advanced $50,000 to St. Nicholas parish to repair a broken boiler so it could heat the empty building during the winter and avoid damage such as frozen pipes.
PennDOT’s last round of proposals included tall retaining walls along the highway. Groups such as the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and the Riverlife Task Force objected, and the transportation department again chose to find a new plan.
“We were concerned, as was Riverlife, about an 80-foot retaining wall,” said Cathy McCollom, the foundation’s chief programs officer.
Until now, PennDOT and the railroad were unable to agree on a plan that would use railway property. That changed after the proposal of a state law that would have allowed Allegheny County government to take railroad property through eminent domain.
“In the course of introducing the legislation, I found it was not necessary to push the movement of the bill because Norfolk Southern became amenable to working with PennDOT,” said state Rep. Don Walko, a North Side Democrat. “Suddenly, things just seemed to open up.”
Jim Ritchie can be reached at jritchie@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7933.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Students take role in city’s history
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW REAL ESTATE WRITER
Friday, April 8, 2005History is one of Amy Lollo’s favorite subjects.
So it’s not surprising the fourth-grader at Phillips Elementary School on the South Side is an eager participant in the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation’s “Save Our History” project.She is among about 500 students from four elementary schools in and around the South Side taking part in the project, which is focused on preserving the legacy of East Carson Street, the community’s historic main street.
“I love history,” Lollo, 11, said Thursday just before she joined other program participants, their teachers and guests for an afternoon program at Phillips Elementary to thank the History Channel for a $10,000 grant.
Since January, students from Phillips, Arlington and Philip Murray elementary schools, and Bishop Leonard Catholic, have been involved in activities ranging from research and community interviews to drawing sketches of commercial buildings and composing poetry and works of art.
“I interviewed my grandmother about what things have been made and what has been torn down,” said Lollo, adding that she later composed an essay about her experience.
One thing she learned, she said, is the Brady Street Bridge, which for years spanned the Monongahela River, was torn down in 1978 after the construction of the Birmingham Bridge now linking the South Side to neighborhoods on the northern bank of the river.
The History & Landmarks Foundation is one of 29 organizations across the country chosen for the newly established History Channel grants, said Judy Klein Frimer, director of brand enhancement for the History Channel.
“You folks are the whole future of saving our history,” Frimer told the students yesterday. “Unless you understand and treasure it, we won’t have a history and neither will your children’s children.”
“East Carson Street is 194 years old, but it’s very much alive today because of the quality of life it supports,” said History & Landmarks Foundation executive director Louise Sturgess, who is overseeing implementation of the local project.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Program, designed to spur revitalization of commercial districts. East Carson Street was designated a Great American Main Street by the National Trust in 1996.
“Main streets are the heart of the neighborhood,” Sturgess said.
The next significant event for the Save Our History project will be “Spotlight on Main Street,” a major community program April 30 featuring a scavenger hunt and other activities at the South Side Market House and along East Carson between 10th and 22nd streets.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review