Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Author recalls greatness of forgotten Pittsburgh designer
By Bob Karlovits
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, October 19, 2002Henry Hornbostel’s legacy climbs along the hills of the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Oakland to the peak of the Grant Building, Downtown.
It provides a theater for politics at the City-County Building, a resting spot for tired visitors at the Webster Hall hotel in Oakland and a home for families from Squirrel Hill to Monroeville.
“Henry Hornbostel is a man you don’t want to forget,” says Walter C. Kidney, architectural historian from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, and author of the first book on the architect (1867-1961).
He is the author of the new “Henry Hornbostel: An Architect’s Master Touch” (published by the foundation in cooperation with Roberts Rinehart Publishers, $49.95).
The 272-page volume is the impetus for tours and book signings that will draw attention to the work of an architect whose buildings are Pittsburgh landmarks. It contains 470 illustrations, including 200 color photographs.
Although Hornbostel created buildings and other architectural works throughout the United States, no other city has the same “critical mass” of works by him, says Martin Aurand, architectural archivist at Carnegie Mellon.
His 110 works in this area are about half of his total output, Kidney says in the book.
The Carnegie Mellon archives, which includes 17,000 drawings, has the largest collection of Hornbostel documentation because of his work in designing the Oakland campus, Aurand says.
It has 560 of the Brooklyn native’s drawings, along with sketch pads from before his education in at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It also has an unfinished autobiography, “which I’m sure everybody wishes would go a lot further,” Aurand says.
David J. Vater, a Mt. Washington architect, author and collaborator on the book, says he regrets that Hornbostel isn’t as well known as artists such as H.H. Richardson, known for the Allegheny County Courthouse.
“People don’t know Hornbostel or even know he was a Pittsburgh architect,” he says of the craftsman who settled in Oakland in 1920 after working on local projects for more than a decade.
He lived here until he retired to Connecticut in 1939.
“Hornbostel is an architect who was well liked in his day, but since then has seemed to have fallen through the cracks,” says Charles L. Rosenblum, architectural historian and adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon.
He, Kidney and Vater all agree the reason for that is the rise of modernism in the 1940s and ?50s.
“Modernists did not want to deal with anyone who was not part of their movement,” Rosenblum says.
“It was only in the ?70s, when post-modernism came into play that there was renewed interest in Hornbostel’s life,” Vater says.
Eclectic for the ages
While the name Hornbostel might not carry the weight of Frank Lloyd Wright’s, his work carries a style that establishes itself.
Kidney points out how Hornbostel is “eclectic” in his use of styles, using elements that hint sometimes at modernism as well as shades of Renaissance or Grecian influences.
In Pittsburgh, that mixture creates its own image in buildings such as Oakland’s Webster Hall, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial, the Carnegie Mellon campus and Rodef Shalom Temple, Downtown’s Grant Building or additions to the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin.
He also designed homes that bear gabled ornateness in Squirrel Hill or a chateau-like rural nature in Monroeville.
From 1936 to ?39, he was Allegheny County’s Director of Parks and contributed commonly used buildings such as the Boathouse in North Park and the Golf Clubhouse in South Park.
As for Hornbostel’s works in other areas of the United States, one can note that:
He designed the Williamsburg and Queensborough bridges in New York City.
Twenty-two of his structures are on the National Registry of Historic Places.
He also designed city halls in Oakland, Calif., and Hartford, Conn.
He contributed a large number of buildings to what is now Emery University in Atlanta.
His work on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus gives the school an appearance that has, more or less, been upkept over the years, Vater and Aurand say.When he was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie to design the school in 1904, it was at a time that was rather interesting ? a time when “universities were being designed from scratch.”
Although there are buildings at Carnegie Mellon that are modern and unlike Hornbostel’s work, the university frequently as tried to maintain his theme, Vater says.
Wean Hall, for instance, is a modern-looking, angular building, but is similar to Hornbostel’s work in its color and even the slope of his roof, he points out.
Vater also mention the blends of artistry and practicality in Hornbostel’s designs. In Baker Hall, for example, a cantilevered, circular staircase is a striking bit of design at the center of the building.
Yet, Hornbostel also incorporated a sloping, stone hallway through the building so pieces of heavy equipment could be moved from room to room in the building that was being used for technical study.
Vater also points out that his use of light-colored brick at the campus creates “variations on a theme of white” that differ greatly from the red-brick buildings of Ivy League schools.
Kidney says he became interested in Hornbostel almost as soon as he became curious about architecture, when he was 14. Not only did he appreciate the work of the designer, he liked the name.
“It seemed like the right name for the grand gesture,” he says with a faint smile.
He also has an appreciation for the character Hornbostel was. When he was a teenager, Kidney writes, he rode a high-wheeled bicycle from New York City to Buffalo ? and back again.
He also was well known for being able to eat or drink with anyone, he says.
Aurand points out a Hornbostel-designed rental brochure for the Grant Building. On it, the building is a behemoth towering over a city of buildings ? all designed by Hornbostel.
“Only he would have the ego to pull that off,” Aurand says.
While Hornbostel’s eclecticism can carry his works different ways, Kidney points out, the “Hornsbostelian” elements show up in forms that are like one another. For instance, he says, the sweeping arches of the City-County Building are strikingly close to those of the Hartford City Hall.
Those elements sometimes can be “pompous and rhetorical,” he says, far different from the modern styles of Wright or Walter Gropius.
Yet, few other architects have contributed as much to the image of this city as Hornbostel, says Kidney. D.H. Burnham (1842-1912), designer of the Oliver and Frick buildings, Frederick G. Scheibler Jr. (1872-1959) or Benno Janssen (1874-1964) come close, but don’t rival him ? if only in numbers.
That is why Kidney decided, in 1991, to write a book about Hornbostel.
Rosenblum sees that as a step that was much needed.
“There is a lot more that can be said than in one volume,” he says, “but this is a way to begin the discussion.”
Tours
Henry Hornbostel’s works spread across the Pittsburgh area like autumn leaves on a tree-filled lawn.
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has scheduled three tours to examine the variety of the architect’s buildings and homes.
Walter C. Kidney will be present at all three tours, and copies of his biography “Henry Hornbostel: An Architect’s Master Touch” will be available for autograph and purchase. Light refreshments will be served at each.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Original Campus
2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, beginning at Hunt Library, Oakland.
Tour leaders: Martin Aurand, archivist of Carnegie Mellon’s Architectural Archives; Charles L. Rosenblum, architectural historian and adjunct professor at the university; Paul Tellers, university architect.
The tour will look at the buildings as well as some of Hornbostel’s original drawings. Tellers will discuss recent building at Carnegie Mellon.
$15; $10 for foundation members, university faculty or alumni; $7 for students.
Hornbostel in Downtown PittsburghNoon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, beginning at City-County Building.
Tour leaders: Lu Donnelly, architectural historian; Rosenblum; David J. Vater, author and architect.
The tour will look at executed and unexecuted works Downtown, including the City-County Building and the Grant Building.
$10, $8 for foundation members and Smithfield United Church members; $5 for students.
Hornbostel in the East End2 to 6 p.m. Oct. 27, main lobby of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ National Military Museum and Memorial, Oakland.
Tour leaders: Ronald S. Gancas, vice president of Soldiers’ and Sailors’; Donnelly; Rosenblum; Vater.
The tour will travel by bus to places such as Thaw Hall at the University of Pittsburgh and Webster Hall in Oakland to two private homes.
Fee: $55, $45 for foundation members and University Club members; $40 for students.
In addition, a reception and tour will be at the Hornbostel-designed Rodef Shalom Temple, Oakland, 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.Besides tours of the temple, the event will included remarks by Phillip B. Hallen, chairman, and Louise Sturgess, executive director of the foundation.
Arthur Ziegler, president of History and Landmarks, will unveil a plaque honoring the temple and Hornbostel.
Cost: $10 for landmark members and temple members; $15 for nonmembers.
Reservations for each event: (412) 471-5808, ext. 527.
? Bob Karlovits
Bob Karlovits can be reached at bkarlovits@tribweb.com or (412) 320 7852.This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © The Tribune-Review Publishing Co
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Author documents Henry Hornbostel’s architectural legacy
Friday, October 18, 2002
Henry Hornbostel’s legacy climbs along the hills of the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Oakland to the peak of the Grant Building, Downtown. It provides a theater for politics at the City-County Building, a resting spot for tired visitors at the Webster Hall hotel in Oakland and a home for families from Squirrel Hill to Monroeville.
“Henry Hornbostel is a man you don’t want to forget,” says Walter C. Kidney, architectural historian from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, and author of the first book on the architect (1867-1961), titled “Henry Hornbostel: An Architect’s Master Touch” (published by the foundation in cooperation with Roberts Rinehart Publishers, $49.95).
The 272-page volume is the impetus for tours and book signings that will draw attention to the work of an architect whose buildings are Pittsburgh landmarks. It contains 470 illustrations, including 200 color photographs.
Although Hornbostel created buildings and other architectural works throughout the United States, no other city has the same “critical mass” of works by him, says Martin Aurand, architectural archivist at Carnegie Mellon.
According to Kidney, Hornbostel’s 110 works in this area are about half of his total output.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © The Tribune-Review Publishing Co
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Longtime TV personality led high-flying career ‘with humor and grace’
By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, October 5, 2002The air is Don Riggs’ second home. Whether it’s his lifelong passion of flying and building planes, his teenage stint as an aerial circus performer or his most notable achievements — on the air as a personality at a number of Pittsburgh television stations — Riggs can look back over his 74 years with a certain measure of satisfaction.
Take-offs and safe landings are second nature to Riggs.ON-THE-AIR CAREER
Riggs was on the air in Columbus before moving to Pittsburgh in 1960 to co-host “Daybreak” with Marcy Lynn and musician Johnny Costa. The morning magazine talk show aired from 7 to 8 a.m. on KDKA (Channel 2). Their popularity soared as 67 percent of available Pittsburgh television viewers started their day with them, according to Riggs. The viewers’ children liked him, too.
“Bwana Don,” his Saturday morning alter ego, hosted “Safari.” Dressed in Banana Republic-esque khakis, he introduced wide-eyed kids to exotic wildlife and old Tarzan films. Younger viewers looked at each other in amazement when Riggs gazed into the camera and told them he saw they were wearing pajamas.
The low-budget set was decorated with zebra skins, spears and bamboo. It looked as if it were partially furnished by Pier One Imports instead of Horne’s department store. But it might not have been low-budget enough for management.
Corporate cost-cutting cut short his KDKA career in 1967, but he landed on his feet in Indianapolis as a news anchor. After 18 months, Riggs was lured back here to produce specials and documentaries for WQED (Channel 13). After two years, a $3,000 pay raise enticed him to take a position as Community Affairs Secretary to WIIC (Channel 11), which eventually became WPXI. He was there 20 years before he retired.
“He was one of my most important mentors,” says Mary Robb Jackson, KDKA reporter. “Uncompromising about his work and ethics. He is the original flyboy.”
“He does it with humor and grace,” says Adam Lynch, former news anchor. “I love the man.”
EARLY ANGST
Riggs’ first job, at age 15, paid $40 a month. That was during the summer he left his hometown of Newark, Ohio, running off to join the circus.
Riggs is not sure why he left his family after 11th grade without telling them.
“Somehow, I wanted to get even,” he says. “I don’t know why.” His family — mom, dad and his younger brother and sister — finally learned what happened to the 15-year-old when a hospital called telling them he survived emergency surgery for a burst appendix. They got him back safe at home in time for his senior year in high school.
Riggs’ twin wasn’t as fortunate in his life. Carl was dropped on his head at birth and was never right. Neither was the remorseful doctor who delivered him and, a year later, committed suicide. Carl could not walk or take care of himself. He was so spastic that he made teeth marks on the spoon his parents used to feed him. It seemed as if Carl demanded their all for five exhausting years. Carl also received all the attention at his funeral — while his jealous 5-year-old twin played with the cat.
Riggs got his parents’ attention when he was 10 years old, trying to protect the family property. Even though they owned both sides of the creek by their home, someone set trout-lines from bank to bank to help himself to their fish. When his parents discovered their son had destroyed the trespasser’s equipment, they said Riggs’ act was an embarrassment.
“I’ll be damned if I protect our property again,” Riggs vowed.
He says he thinks that was the defining moment of his childhood — why he wanted to “get even.”
Five years later, he did just that — going up, up and away in the hot-air balloon act at the circus. His job was to cling to the side of the balloon as it rose 1,000 feet in the air. It wasn’t the last time he touched the sky.
AT YOUR SERVICE
The old biplane “Miss Pittsburgh” became something more than the subject of a Riggs documentary video, independently produced in 1993. The historic plane had made the first airmail flight in U.S. history — at noon April 21, 1927 — from McKeesport to Cleveland to Youngstown.
Riggs worked behind the scenes to have her soar forever above travelers in its permanent position hanging in Pittsburgh International Airport. He helped raise $11,000 for the restoration, then raised additional money for the purchase price of the plane. The blue-and silver mail plane was set in place in 1994.
Riggs’ interest in aviation transcends such projects. As a pilot, he has logged 2,500 hours in nine aircraft and is a life member of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 45. “I no longer fly, because my left knee won’t bend enough to operate the left rudder,” he says.
A pair of 16-foot airplane wings in his basement is testament to his desire to soar above the clouds. The project — building an airplane — a Pamsey’s Flying Bathtub — is unfinished due to his painful arthritis-twisted knuckles and fingers.
On the earthbound side of life, Riggs was one of the driving forces behind “Presents for Patients.” The program, started in 1984 by William V. Day, now president of St. Barnabas Health System, is kind of a geriatric version of Toys for Tots.
It encourages people to buy gifts — and deliver them — to senior citizens in assisted-living facilities. More than 200 institutions in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New York and Missouri are involved. About 20,000 gifts were purchased for the residents last year — nearly 500,000 since its start, according to an appreciative Day.
“Without Don Riggs’ willingness, it would not have happened,” Day says. “He opened up his heart and his arms to me. It tells about the character of the man. It’s more than what you see on the screen or at air shows.”
Riggs continues to help train organizations for the program. Every cent goes for the gifts.
“When different people need help, he reaches out and helps them,” says Patricia Buck, executive director of the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Western Pennsylvania.
“The five telethons he set up raised $750,000 for the Duquesne University Tamburitzans,” says Pat French, president of the Bulgarian Cultural Center. “He never is too busy to talk or help.”
But Riggs doesn’t take much credit for his success — he wants others to have their moment in the sun. Ask John DeSantis.
DeSantis is executive director of the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show, which Riggs covered on the air for several years. “Don Riggs leaves his fingerprints on nothing but touches everything,” DeSantis says. Riggs once told DeSantis you can accomplish anything if you don’t care who gets the credit.
Other documentaries Riggs produced inspired more than television credits.
“Let Me Be Brave,” hosted by former Pittsburgh Steeler Rocky Bleier, featured five mentally retarded athletes who advanced to the national competition at the Special Olympics in Louisiana. It was so moving that the Special Olympics used it for years to help tell its story. Tapes were sent overseas to inspire others to start their own chapters.
Rick Minutello was Riggs’ cameraman for that and other projects. “Don Riggs could make a one-hour documentary on laying asphalt and make it entertaining,” he says.
“His secret is that he cares about the subjects,” says By Williams, former WIIC news director.
“Riggs is a continuing spirit,” says Arthur Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Louise Sturgess, executive director of History & Landmarks, agrees. “He is a craftsman,” she says.
“Riggs is a pro,” Minutello says. “In this business, that is high praise.”
High praise indeed, considering Riggs sometimes walks around with a duck.
WILLIE THE DUCK
“Willie the Duck” is a takeoff on Donald Duck. The rubber puppet of a large duck head made its first appearance on Columbus WBNS-TV in 1956, along with Hugo Hippo. They traveled with Riggs to KDKA. Willie became a trademark of Riggs, but Hugo was forgotten along that way.
Willie reappeared during a newspaper strike in the early 70s. “Willie” read the comics on the Channel 11 newscast. The irreverent duck always called news anchor Ray Tannehill “Mr. Tannenbaum.” Tannehill would break up as the ratings went up. Drawings by art director Bob Johnston — but supposedly by “Willie” — were the gimmick justifying the duck’s segment after the strike ended. A corporate executive decided the newscast would never be the most watched, because the staff was too happy. His new news director said Willie’s goose was cooked.
“I felt we were going to miss something valuable, especially for kids who had begun to watch our news,” Riggs says. The ratings declined after that.
Today, Minutello vividly pictures Riggs leaving the studio when he retired in May of 1990, as reporter Jack Etzel gave his regards to the duck.
Willie was in a box with a hole in the bottom for Riggs’ hand. As the two were leaving hand-in-head, Riggs said, “It’s time to say good-bye.”
HOMEFRONT
The air Riggs breathes these days includes medical oxygen. “Emphysema sneaks up on you,” he says.
At 74, Riggs lives in Mt. Lebanon with his wife of 51 years, Joan — pronounced Jo Ann — a retired nurse.
His interest in aviation apparently rubbed off on his two sons, Eric and Carl; both are graduates of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and work in the airline industry. His daughters, Amy Baker and Kathleen Prince, followed their mother’s footsteps and became nurses. Four grandchildren complete the family.
“Joan, his wife, has a job and a half,” DeSantis says. “She goes with him everywhere and always laughs at his punch lines. Their marriage is one that other married people should study.
The Don Riggs file
Full name: Donald Seasholes Riggs.
Age: 74; born Nov. 19, 1927, in Newark, Ohio.
Residence: Mt Lebanon.
Wife: Joan Striker Riggs, retired cardiac care/rehab nurse.
Children: Amy Baker, Kathleen Prince, Eric Riggs and Carl Riggs.
Grandchildren: Allie, Emily, Carla and Walter.
Education: 1945 graduate, Hebron High School in Hebron, Ohio; 1952 graduate, Capitol University in Columbus, Ohio, with a B.S. in Education, Speech and Music.
Military: Supply sergeant; honorable discharge from the 359th and 362nd Army Service Forces Bands.
Broadcast career:
1952-54: WHKC radio, Columbus, Ohio, as announcer and newscaster.
1954-60: WBNS-TV, Columbus, Ohio, as singer, announcer, puppeteer, movie host, weatherman, music writer for TV specials and Santa Claus.
1960-67: KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh, as host and principle performer of “Daybreak,” magazine-style show, and host of “Safari” children’s Saturday morning program.
1967-68: WLWI-TV, Indianapolis, as news anchor.
1968-70: WQED-TV, Pittsburgh, as producer and program host.
1970-90: WIIC-TV, as weatherman, public affairs writer/producer, telethon host, emcee for air shows in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and Colorado, and the Three Rivers Regatta.
Other interests: Aviation (Riggs has 2,500 hours in nine aircraft and is a life member of Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 45); carpentry (Riggs made his dining room table and chairs); historic preservation (member of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation); community service (St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation “Presents for Patients” program co-chairman); toastmaster and emcee.
Favorite film: “Bridge Over the River Kwai.”
Favorite book: “Worlds in Collision,” by Immanuel Velikovsky.
Favorite composer: Benjamin Britten.
Favorite TV show: “The Honeymooners.”
People would be surprised to know: “I am basically shy.”
People also would be surprised to know: “I’m not as secure as I seem to be.”
Proudest accomplishment: “I lasted a long time. I wore well.”
Dimitri Vassilaros can be reached at dvassilaros@tribweb.com or 412-380-5637.
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Fixing hole where rain gets in only half the job
By Robert Baird
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, September 30, 2002Gone are the initials scratched by street gang members and others into the paint on window sills at Henry Hobson Richardson’s landmark Allegheny County Courthouse.
New paint covers the window ledges and walls, vintage lights gleam down the center of the hallways and a handsome wooden bench, donated by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, adorns the fifth floor of the stately 114-year-old masterpiece.
In July, just after county workers put the finishing touches on the painting and plastering, a roof leak during a heavy rain sent water cascading down the walls at the Ross Street end of the building, staining and buckling ceiling tiles.
As a late-night jury deliberated the fate of a homicide defendant, acoustical tiles in the hallway filled with water, then burst like mini-dams, splashing rainwater in the hallway.
Since the damage, the water leak has never recurred.
But the gaping holes in the ceiling tiles remain as silent testimony to what can sometimes happen to the best-laid plans of mice and men.
Visitors to the building might think the unrepaired tiles in an otherwise spotless white ceiling are evidence of neglect.
“It looks terrible,” said Common Pleas Judge Lawrence O’Toole, who was presiding in his nearby courtroom at the homicide trial on the night the rainwater broke through the ceiling in the hall.
He said county workers are probably “waiting to see if it rains again.”
The judge had no idea his speculation was correct.
Margaret Philbin, county spokeswoman, said the public works department fixed the roof shortly after the leak and was waiting for the first heavy, steady rain, which occurred last Thursday and Friday.
“They went up Thursday night and Friday and checked, and found no leak,” she said. “The tiles will be fixed this week according to Tom Donatelli, director of public works.”
The unrepaired tiles on the fifth floor spoiled the effect of the many improvements recently made in the courthouse’s appearance.
Workers have been busy completing a new courtroom on the fifth floor for the summary appeals section, with chambers for Common Pleas Judge Robert Gallo, and offices for other staff members.
While there are other missing ceiling tiles in the building, they appear to have been taken down for “work in progress.”
Meanwhile, just one flight down on the fourth floor near the electrical shop, a stack of used ceiling tiles rests against a wall, alongside an electrical hoist used in replacing the tiles and burned-out lights.
Some courthouse observers suggested that the less-than-perfect tiles could have been used as replacements until the roof leak was checked out. Then, the new tiles could have been used without much chance of further damage.
Robert Baird can be reached at (412) 391-8650.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © The Tribune-Review Publishing Co
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Historic Review Commission to vote on mortuary status
By Ellen James
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 3, 2002On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission will consider whether Allegheny County’s century-old mortuary should be designated an historic structure.
Pittsburgh architect Frederick J. Osterling, a disciple of the jail and courthouse’s architect, designed the mortuary to match the two other buildings and to create a fortress-like enclave of government centered Downtown, according to a county report about the construction of the three buildings.And it is that urban design that prompted the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to nominate the building, built between 1901 and 1903, as a city-designated historic structure.
“Our position was that the mortuary exemplified urban design techniques and overall quality of design or detail,” said Cathy McCollom, director of operations and marketing for the foundation. “Osterling picked up on exterior details from the jail and worked them into the mortuary.”
McCollom said the review commission will vote Wednesday on whether to recommend the mortuary as an historic structure.
If the structure, a solidly built Romanesque building with two gargoyles guarding its entrance, is approved, it would then have to be approved by the Planning Commission and City Council. Final approval would come from Mayor Tom Murphy.
The building originally faced Forbes Avenue along Diamond Street. In 1929, county officials needed a new building for deeds, wills and lawsuits, but the mortuary sat in the spot that would be most convenient for the new building, which is now the County Office Building.
Instead of demolishing the morgue, officials decided to move the 8,000-ton granite building 297 feet to its present location along Fourth Avenue.
It took three months to move the building, but that didn’t stop the regular day-to-day business of the morgue. As Levi Bird Duff, a consultant in the move, said in an interview shortly before his death, “People were killing and dying every day. The coroner’s functions couldn’t be stopped.”
Routine business such as autopsies and inquests continued; and water, gas, plumbing, telephone and electrical service were uninterrupted.
In a feat of engineering prowess, the mortuary was raised 20 feet off its foundation and placed on 22 tracks of hundreds of rails and slowly pulled to its present location by a team of horses. The building then had to be lowered another 7 feet to fit into its present foundation.
The building survived the move with minimum damage.
“It really was a marvel of engineering,” said Tom Donatelli, director of public works for the county.
If the building is approved as an historic structure, the county couldn’t make any changes to the exterior without city approval. There has been no objection from county officials regarding the proposed status.
Ellen James can be reached at epjames02@yahoo.com.
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Mellon Arena’s future still in limbo
By Stephanie Franken
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 10, 2002Even as the public sounds off over the proposal to preserve Mellon Arena as a historic landmark, the question of what to do with it remains unanswered.
And those involved with plans for a new Penguins arena doubt there is room enough in Pittsburgh for two.The Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh today will hear public testimony about whether 41-year-old Mellon Arena has sufficient historic and architectural value to receive historic landmark status.
The proposal for a new $225 million arena and surrounding development Uptown calls for demolishing Mellon Arena, but a “City Designated Historic Structure” status would block or at least slow demolition plans. Today’s public hearings at 200 Ross St., Downtown, begin at 1 p.m. and comments about Mellon Arena will be heard beginning at 2:50 p.m.
Last month, the commission voted 4-0 to begin the process of determining whether the arena should receive historic status.
Today is the first step in a two-part process that will lead to a final vote on Aug. 7 to either approve or deny the historic designation, commission Chairman John DeSantis said. Ultimately, Pittsburgh City Council would vote to make the designation official after the Historic Review Commission puts forth a recommendation.
“The city’s going to be looking for the highest and best use for the land,” said Paul Anderson, a Marquette University law professor and associate director of the National Sports Law Institute.
The owner of Mellon Arena, the Sports & Exhibition Authority, already has made its position on Mellon Arena clear. It is working on a financing plan for a new Penguins arena — and those plans do not include the old arena, SEA spokesman Greg Yesko said.
“It was a marvel when it first opened. No one wants to downplay that,” Yesko said. But if the structure is allowed to stand after a new arena is completed, the SEA would bear the burden of owning and operating both facilities, he said.
“The overlap in the cost would be prohibitive. The cost of maintaining an obsolete facility with limited use is not a logical decision.”
In a handful of other North American cities, older hockey arenas that weren’t razed have continued to exist as spaces for entertainment and sports events. According to the National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School, old hockey arenas in Calgary, Montreal , Philadelphia, Toronto and San Jose continue to be used for civic, social and athletic events.
In Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, New York City and St. Louis, older hockey arenas were demolished.
In Buffalo and in Washington, D.C., old arenas that weren’t demolished now stand vacant, according a Marquette report.
The SEA “doesn’t have a timeline, necessarily,” for a new arena, said Yesko, adding that the hockey team has a lease for the existing arena until 2006. But once construction of a new facility gets under way, he said, the old one should go.
Ken Sawyer, president of the Lemieux Group LP, said the Penguins view the historic designation of Mellon Arena as a separate matter from the team’s plans to build a new arena. “It’s definitely up to the public to determine the fate of the old arena,” he said.
Nevertheless, the Pens’ proposal to add housing, retail and office space near the new arena requires demolition of the old one.
“The only issue is that we do not believe the old arena should be used for events that could be held in that new arena,” Sawyer said.
In addition to hosting hockey games, a new arena would serve as a venue for events such as concerts — and it would be used for major events 140 to 150 days per year, Sawyer said.
Mellon Arena currently hosts hockey games, concerts and other major events an average of 130 days per year, give or take 10 to 15 days, said Doug Hall, general manager for SMG at Mellon Arena. In addition, there might be several smaller events taking place on any given day at the arena, he said.
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Association, along with Preservation Pittsburgh, nominated Mellon Arena for historic designation in May.
History & Landmarks spokeswoman Cathy McCollom said her organization thinks Mellon Arena is an important building and should be saved but isn’t adamant. By nominating the site for historic status, it simply provides an opportunity for the public to weigh all possible uses for the structure — and choose the best one.
“While the nomination is in place, right now, the building cannot be demolished,” she said. But the Historic Review Commission could grant a demolition permit even after historic status has been granted.
Historic status only protects the exterior of a building. It would not prevent substantial changes to the inside of Mellon Arena.
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Questions surround Plan C
By Stephanie Franken
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, June 23, 2002Damian Soffer has big dreams for the South Side: art films, new sidewalk cafes, loft apartments and an outdoor theater for concerts or Shakespeare performances.
The developer behind the SouthSide Works, the $170 million entertainment, housing and office complex under construction on the former LTV Steel site, Soffer said, “Everything that will happen in Pittsburgh will start or finish or run through the SouthSide Works.”But what about Downtown, wonders Landy Benaquista.
“There is no life. There are no shoppers here on Saturday. There’s nothing Downtown to draw anybody,” said Benaquista, gesturing across the street as she stood outside Candy-Rama, the 50-year-old Fifth Avenue store owned by her husband and brother-in-law.
With six new development projects planned or under way, Pittsburgh’s urban core will see substantial changes over the next decade. The projects promise trendy stores and restaurants, plus new office space and housing. If successful, the developments could enrich the neighborhoods they border by drawing more visitors and residents.
In a city lacking the population growth that often drives real estate development, however, gains for some mean losses for others.
Most developers, economists, city officials and store owners agree that Pittsburgh consumers will embrace newer developments at the expense of the old.
Among the vulnerable could be Downtown itself, sleepy past 6 p.m. and awaiting its third, $363 million redevelopment plan for the Fifth and Forbes area.
Candy-Rama’s Benaquista said she is optimistic that Plan C could give the area the boost it needs — once it gets under way. But during the wait, she said, area stores are moving on or dying off.
BIG PLANS
Meanwhile, developers outside Downtown are trying to seize their own share of Pittsburgh’s market, proposing more than $1 billion in new development.
Less than five miles up the Monongahela from the SouthSide Works, The Waterfront — a massive $300 million retail, office and housing complex — holds court. It is a mature development, now complete with the exception of eight acres adjacent to Loews Theatre. Farther down East Carson Street at Station Square, a hotel expansion, plus more stores, bars and restaurants are cropping up in a $71 million expansion.
On the other side of Downtown, an expanse of parking lots on the North Shore is the proposed home for another new urban neighborhood with $200 million in facilities for living, working and playing. On 25 acres near Mellon Arena, the Pittsburgh Penguins are devising a $500 million plan of their own that could include retail and entertainment space and a new hockey arena.
Circling the urban core are more than 20 shopping areas — enclosed malls and strip malls — such as The Waterworks Mall in Aspinwall and The Mall at Robinson.
In a market analysis that assesses the viability of Plan C, author Hunter Interests Corp. said the region’s declining population was reason for concern to developers.
“In the simplest sense, these two trends — decreasing population and increasing retailing — cannot continue indefinitely,” the study said.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
The Plan C task force devised a plan to help the project succeed: add nearly 600 new apartments to the Downtown mix.
To History and Landmarks Foundation President Art Ziegler, that’s why the proposal surpasses two previous Downtown redevelopment plans.
“It’s not about malls. It’s about housing,” he said.
But the fundamental issues raised by the Plan C market study remain: Unless Pittsburgh’s population booms unexpectedly, new developments will compete for the same pool of customers.
Experts disagree on the effect these new stores and office buildings will have on Pittsburgh’s economy.
Bob Gleeson, a Duquesne University professor who specializes in urban planning, said real estate development can spawn economic growth.
As private developers — especially those from other cities or states — build new developments, they have a big incentive to see them succeed, he said. As a result, they would pump up Pittsburgh and perhaps succeed in bringing new businesses here, in order to make their own projects succeed.
But Columbia University urban planning professor Elliott Sclar, in New York, disagreed. “It’s industries that drive growth, not real estate development,” he said.
“Whenever you get a new scheme for real estate development, it’s not going to change the basics. Entrepreneurship, industry growth, education, access to capital … they have nothing to do with a pretty store front.”
To Elizabeth Deakins, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of California at Berkeley, the outcome of a new development is a clearer win for the private developer than the city.
“A developer can tell you he can make a viable development and often, he’s right. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to do it by moving the market from Downtown or from older shopping centers to newer ones.”
With so many new projects under way, Pittsburgh may see older, locally owned stores lose out to new, national competition, Deakins said.
Whether or not that harms the city is a matter of opinion, she said.
Mulugetta Birru, executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, agreed, saying new developments probably will weaken the city’s more obsolete restaurants and stores — even some old favorites.
They also may alter plans for Downtown.
“I feel all these developments will have a negative impact on the entertainment potential for Downtown,” Birru said. “At the end of the day, there is a limit to how much entertainment the area can support.”
While that reality might force a revision of expectations for the area, it doesn’t necessarily crush them.
Birru cited a feasibility study conducted by CB Richard Ellis for Deer Creek Crossing, a new shopping center proposed for Harmar Township, which found Pittsburgh has less shopping space per capita than the national average. While the national average is 19.6 square feet per capita, Pittsburgh averages 16.6.
Birru said there is no reason to intervene as outmoded establishments lose ground to newer ones. “It’s a natural market situation.”
University of Pittsburgh professor Edward Muller had a similar view.
“This is the nature of American Capitalism, to constantly have entrepreneurs — in this case often developers and large corporations — try to find their niche and boot others out of business,” Muller said.
“This kind of eating up of ourselves — cannibalism — that is the nature of the beast.”
LESSONS FROM DENVER
Whether or not each development succeeds, and whether or not local businesses find success along with them, is partly a matter of proximity.
Some local store owners are readying themselves for two possibilities: Either they will be close enough to new developments to gain from increased pedestrian traffic, or they will be too far away from those developments — and lose customers.
Downtown Pittsburgh might take a few lessons from Denver, another city that recently confronted blight and undertook massive new projects for renewal, said UC Berkeley’s Deakins.
Over the past decade, downtown Denver has undergone a renaissance. Infusions of taxpayer funds led to new housing and entertainment complexes in the heart of the city. A pedestrian walkway now cuts a swath through Downtown, encouraging foot traffic and giving rise to sidewalk cafes and stores. The city’s new baseball stadium, Coors Field, also is Downtown, adding to the area’s buzz.
Compared to Denver, Pittsburgh’s new developments aren’t as concentrated.
“They surround but do not reinforce the Downtown as one would hope,” said Thomas Clark, professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Colorado at Denver.
That means those new developments could compete against — not complement — each other. And local business could be caught in the crossfire.
Benaquista fears her store will be too far away from new developments on the two shores across from Downtown. She’d like to see a few big, inexpensive national retailers such as Target or Costco come Downtown, because she believes they would give people a reason to make the trip to an area where parking is inconvenient.
On the South Side’s East Carson Street, however, some shopkeepers say they are close enough to the SouthSide Works and optimistic that it will bolster an already lively area.
“We depend on foot traffic. Lots of businesses here depend on the numbers of people who come to see the South Side,” said Anne Oates, co-owner of Spotlight Costumes Co. At her 13-year-old store, visitors are greeted with South Side’s signature quirkiness: an array of colorful wigs and costumes, plus two chubby dachshunds named Kiwi and Brownie.
QUALITY WINS
For developers and retailers alike, it’s important to remember that customers will be faithful to places they love — new or old, said Bill Kunkel, manager of the Carlton Restaurant Downtown. “Our feeling is that there’s a piece of the pie for everybody. We’ve always felt that way. We’re a good restaurant, so we get our regular customers,” he said.
“I don’t know if that’s the case with everybody.”
Beyond stores and restaurants, however, what Pittsburgh needs to fill the gaps is stronger economic growth, said James Starman, managing director of L.J. Melody & Co., a real estate banking firm.
And when the future of new development projects is pondered, the health of the local economy represents the greatest unanswerable question.
But time is on the side of area developers. Most projects won’t be complete for several years. SouthSide Works, for instance, is under way now, but it is being completed one building at a time and won’t be finished until 2004.
It’s the time span for completion of new projects that increases their likelihood of success, said Mark Schneider of the Rubinoff Co.
“Do I think the markets are here for 750,000 square feet in one year? No. Do I think the markets are here for 750,000 square feet over seven years? Probably.”
Stephanie Franken can be reached at sfranken@tribweb.com.
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Property owner’s plans requested
By Jaime McLeod
For the Tribune-Review
Sunday, May 26, 2002The owner of 10 abandoned buildings in the 100 block of Eighth Avenue in Homestead has until Tuesday to submit a plan on how it will correct numerous code violations cited at the properties.
If the owner of the properties, Gustine Properties Inc. of Pittsburgh, fails to submit a written formal plan on how it will proceed with fixing up the buildings, the matter will go before the local district justice, who can impose up to $5,000 in fines.Since 1998, the South Side company has been attempting, in conjunction with the CVS Corp., to demolish the structures and build a 10,000-square-foot drug store on the site.
In 2000, the Homestead Council decided the store should not be the first sight to greet visitors to Homestead’s main street. At the suggestion of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which determined the buildings have historic value to the community, the council denied a request by the developers to tear down the buildings. Council members preferred that the buildings be renovated instead.
The refusal ignited a $7 million lawsuit against the borough, council, the planning commission, Mayor Betty Esper, the borough of West Homestead and its mayor, John Dindak.
The suit also named a number of private organizations and individuals, including the foundation; its president, Arthur P. Ziegler Jr.; and general counsel, Elisa Cavalier; the Homestead Area Economic Revitalization Corp.; the Steel Valley Enterprise Zone Corp.; and local business owners George DeBolt, David Lewis and Judith Tener.
The private parties, who were being defended by the American Civil Liberties Union, were dropped from the lawsuit in March, but the company continues to pursue litigation against the municipalities and its representatives.
In the meantime, residents and business owners, most notably former codefendant and West Homestead resident Lewis, who owns four buildings in the borough, have complained that the company has allowed its properties on Eighth Avenue to deteriorate to levels that violate local building codes.
Many have agreed with Preservation Pittsburgh President Sandra Brown that the condition of the properties is “demolition by neglect.”
Stephen Volpe, Homestead code enforcement officer, conducted a walk-through of the 10 buildings owned by Gustine on April 22 as part of a “neighborhood sweep” that encompassed a number of structures located on Sixth through Ninth avenues.
He would not discuss the details of the inspection, but Cindy Dzadovsky, borough manager, said violation notices for five of the buildings were mailed to Gustine on April 26 and that exposure to the elements was the primary area issue.
Gustine was given 30 days to make changes and repairs necessary to bring the buildings into compliance with Homestead’s building codes.
If it fails to do so, it will be assessed fines not to exceed $1,000 apiece for each violation, Dzadovsky said.
Bob Gustine, the in-house lawyer for Gustine Properties, said the company is awaiting advice from Dusty Kirk and George Medved, the attorneys handling the lawsuit against Homestead, before making any changes to the property.
Neither Kirk nor Medved could be reached for comment.