Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
-
Memories preserved – Foundation names home a historic structure
09/13/2001
By Maggi Newhouse – TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wanda Forsythe Clay says there’s a lot of love within the walls of her Carnegie home.
She can sit in the rocking chair her great-grandmother used to rock her grandfather George B. Forsythe, born in 1836.
She can walk into the room where her mother, Grace, gave birth to her in 1927.
And she can sit in front of the marble fireplace where she and her two sisters, Madeline and Virginia, once played parlor games.
Now her memories have become a part of local history.
The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation designated the Forsythe Home, owned by the three sisters, as a recipient of a plaque designating it a significant historic structure in the Pittsburgh area.
The Forsythe Road home, a Georgian/Victorian style home built in 1850, was one of 27 structures given the designation this year.
One reason the building stood out for the selection committee was the sheer amount of information the Forsythe sisters were able to provide about the history of the home, said Cathy McCollom, director of operations and marketing at the foundation.
Forsythe Clay chalks that up to the lifetime she has spent in the home and the two generations of family before her.
Her grandfather, George B. Forsythe, was born in Finleyville in 1836. At age 25 he went off to fight in the Civil War. When he came back four years later, he purchased a 340-acre farm in Collier Township.
In 1886, he moved to the 90-acre farm that became the Forsythe home. That’s where he raised his three children with his wife, Lettie.
Their child Joseph, Clay Forsythe’s father, stayed in the home and raised his three daughters there along with 2,000 white leghorn chicken as a poultry farmer.
The large chicken house still stands, but along the way, the family sold off much of the land to Carnegie for the creation of Carnegie Park.
Wanda Forsythe Clay chose to stay in the home she and her sisters grew up in to raise her own four children.
Her husband, Victor, didn’t mind, she said. “He loved it.”
Now she, her husband and her sister Virginia share the home.
While the times have changed, many remnants of the past remain on the site and in the home itself. Original wood posts still stand on the front porch. The original shutters still grace the windows.
And in the side yard, remnants of an old stone spring house are still visible.
Forsythe Clay said the small structure was used to store the family’s cheese, butter and eggs. In the winter, her grandfather would go to Chartiers Creek and cut a block of ice from the frozen waters and use it to keep the food fresh through the summer.
And inside, the original wood staircase is still in the foyer of the home.
“My sisters and I used to slide down the banister,” she said with a laugh. “Luckily, my grandchildren don’t know about sliding down staircases.”
Walter Kidney, a member of the historic plaque designation committee, said the good condition of the house stood out on the sisters’ application for the plaque.
“The house itself has maintained a good bit of integrity,” he said.
Forsythe said she is thankful her family has been able to keep the home in its condition.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, but there are so many memories here.”
– Maggi Newhouse can be reached at mnewhouse@tribweb.com or at (412) 306-4535.
– –
Other historic structures
The Historic Landmarks Plaque Committee of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation awarded 27 plaques to buildings across Allegheny County. Plaques are given to structures that are remarkable pieces of architecture, engineering, construction or planning, or impart a rich sense of history and are at least 50 years old.
Structures in the south and west suburbs that will receive plaques this year are:
– The Forsythe Home, 920 Forsythe Road, Carnegie; built in 1850.
– Gilfillan Farm House, 1950 Washington Road, Upper St. Clair; built in 1857.
– Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, 214 Mansfield Blvd., Carnegie; built in 1920.
– Homestead High Level Bridge, Monongahela River at Mile 7; built in 1935-37.
– St. Mary Magdalene Church, East 10th Avenue and Amity Street, Homestead, built in 1895; renovated in 1936.
– St. Michael Archangel Church, Ninth Avenue and Library Place, Munhall; built in 1927.
– Stewart Avenue Lutheran Church, 2810 Brownsville Road, Carrick; built in 1927.
– Walker House, 1026 Third Ave., Elizabeth; built in 1844.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review -
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation designates 27 buildings historic
09/10/2001 TRIBUNE-REVIEW
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation recently designated 27 buildings in the region as significant historic structures.
Each site will be identified with a plaque. The foundation has reviewed nominations once a year since 1968 and awards plaques to structures that are a significant part of the region’s local heritage.
“In some circles, our plaque program is all people know of Landmarks,” foundation spokeswoman Cathy McCollom said. “They say, `Oh, you’re the plaque people.'”
To qualify, landmarks must be remarkable pieces of architecture, engineering, construction or planning. Alterations and additions cannot substantially lessen their value, and they must be at least 50 years old. They also must qualify for the foundation’s inventory of significant structures and landscapes, and they cannot be located in historic districts bearing a plaque.
More than 400 structures in Allegheny County have received this designation.
“It’s a way to raise awareness about the number of significant historic structures we have in Allegheny County,” McCollom said. “We hope that we’re hitting the best and the finest, and we still have more to go before we hit them all.”
This year’s designees are:
– Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, North Side
– Troy Hill Fire Station No. 39, Troy Hill
– Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Pittsburgh Branch, Downtown
– The Forsythe Home, Carnegie
– Cecilia and Robert Frank House, Shadyside
– Gilfillan Farm House, Upper St. Clair
– Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, Carnegie
– Homestead High Level Bridge, Monongahela River at Mile 7
– Hot Metal Bridge, Monongahela River at Mile 3
– Pittsburgh Children’s Center, Oakland
– James Powers Homestead, O’Hara Township
– “Meado’ cots,” Point Breeze
– Andrew W. Mellon House, Shadyside
– Muse House, McKeesport
– Parkstone Dwellings, Point Breeze
– Penn Avenue Entrance to Allegheny Cemetery, Lawrenceville
– St. John the Roman Catholic Church (Church Brew Works), Lawrenceville
– St. Mary Magdalene Church, Homestead
– St. Michael Archangel Church, Munhall
– St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, Hill District
– Schenley Bridge, Schenley Park
– Seldom Seen Arch, Saw Mill Run Boulevard east of Woodruff Street
– Sixteenth Street Bridge, Allegheny River at Mile 1.3
– Stewart Avenue Lutheran Church, Carrick
– Walker House, Elizabeth
– West End Bridge, Ohio River at Mile One
– Wilpen Hill, Sewickley Heights
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review -
Building suppliers are key players in resurrection of historic homes
09/07/2001
By Bob Karlovits – TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Argine Carter sees herself as something of a detective.
Mike Gable looks at his work as a form of conservation.
Eric Younkins says he often is simply a sharp set of eyes.
Whether they’re dealing with woodwork, wallpaper or bricks, they’re all trying to help owners of historic homes in what can be a task amounting to thousands of dollars.
They become key players in the tricky attempt to turn battered, old buildings into landmarks from another era.
“You’re dealing with a certain type of person,” says Younkins, a counter manager at a Masterwork Paint & Decorating store in East Liberty. “I have 1,800 different colors and sometimes none of them is just the right thing.”
With other materials, other issues come into play. For instance, Jim Dattilo, one of the owners of Pittsburgh Structural Clay Products in Oakland, says his company is asked to match bricks from older homes. Sometimes workers can match the size – but the real problem is the color.
That’s because the Environmental Protection Agency has disallowed the use of some chemicals that create those colors because they are dangerous.
“Still, we can match about 90 percent of the bricks people ask us to,” he says.
Homeowners often are directed to suppliers through agencies such as the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. Every year, the foundation has an Old House Fair that is a gathering place for dealers in historically rooted supplies and contractors for such jobs.
Cathy McCollom, the group’s director of operations and marketing, says the event attracts about 1,000 people, but generates so many inquiries afterward the foundation has begun “overprinting” the program with information on the dealers.
“We don’t recommend people, though,” McCollom says. “We just supply the names.” She says the event helps provide links to dealers and contractors, and also creates some networking among homeowners. “You know how Pittsburgh is,” she says. “It is a great word-of-mouth city.
Renovators also can contact enthusiasts such as Fred Mannion, president of the Manchester Historic Society, who is renovating his home and says he is eager to see other people doing the same.
“We can send you places like the Architecture Emporium in Canonsburg, and we also know people who are so dedicated to repairs they will come in the middle of the night,” he says.
Or they might deal with an architect such as Shelley Clement from Sewickley who says she does 90 percent of her work in renovation of historic homes. She says she knows of supply dealers who are good to deal with because they are mentally attuned to renovation.
Ron Mistick, purchasing director for Allegheny Millwork, for example, has about 150 to 200 profiles of baseboards and pieces of quarter-round trim at the South Side lumber yard. Fifteen percent to 20 percent of the yard’s business is in replacing those pieces for renovations.
When workers see a sample four or five times, they add it to the design files so future buyers might be able to find the style they need.
“People can then see it in the catalog and order it without paying for any setup time,” Mistick says.
Similarly, Allegheny Moulding on the North Side has pattern books that can help staffers produce woodwork that fits older homes, says Mark Shar, the company’s technical supervisor. The books allow them to create pieces even when they don’t have samples to guide them.
Mike Gable, executive director of Construction Junction in Lawrenceville, says he is looking for a way to help people save money – and to promote conservation as well. He describes his company as “sort of a used Home Depot.”
The company gets all sorts of supplies – from cornices to lumber – then offers them to builders and renovators. Because the firm is centered on matters other than renovation, he says, its historic items amount to 15 percent to 20 percent of its supply at any one time.
“But if you want to whip up the paint stripper or fire up the steel wool, we could be the place,” he says.
Firms of these sorts sometimes can get customers from all over the country. Argine Carter of Carter & Co. of Vallejo, Calif., has made a career out of creating historically correct wallpaper. Those efforts have taken her from doing the paper for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” in South Dakota to President James Garfield’s residence in Ohio.
She says there is “a lot of detective work” in what she and her staff do because they have to work from an assortment of clues rather than a good sample of the object they are duplicating. That often means trying to find out what colors might have been used and reproducing a pattern from a quarter-inch image from a battered photograph.
About 30 percent of the work she does is initiated by individual homeowners and the other 70 percent by parks organizations or civic renovators. Most often, she adds designs they have made to the firm’s catalog. Then they can be used by other home renovators who, like Mistick’s customers, get a break in the price for items in the book.
She doesn’t add all the designs, though.
“Bad taste back then was just as bad as it is now,” she says.
While reproducing paper can be difficult, paint generally is not as big of an issue in historical renovations. While some commercial housing developments have agreements – known as covenants – that govern what colors can be used on the exterior of homes, there are no real restrictions in historical projects.
The “Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation & Guidelines for Preserving Historic Buildings” suggests only to use colors that “are historically appropriate to the building and district.”
The City of Pittsburgh’s Historic Review Commission’s guidelines insist on the rights to review all paint jobs “to avoid odd or extreme color schemes.” The guidelines, however, set “no requirements to use any particular type or color of paint.”
Sharon Park from the National Park Service says that agency makes no color demands in its governance of the National Register of Historic Places.
She says she’s more concerned with whether a paint does the job on its surface. For instance, it is more important to use a waterproof paint on an exterior than to be concerned with a historically “correct” color, she says.
Paints for historic homes, therefore, have become a rather simple issue. Technicians at dealers such as Masterwork, Home Depot and even smaller firms have “color eyes” that can duplicate nearly any color, Younkins reports.
Most often, he and other dealers say, the historic color lines produced by manufactures such as PPG, Pratt and Lambert or Behr fit the bill.
With paint or other items, determination is the key, Younkins suggests.
“How deep the project goes depends on the tenacity of the person who wants it done,” he says
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review
-
These old houses – Restoration projects take dedication, hard work
09/07/2001
By Bob Karlovits, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Renovation of historic homes is an avocation that never seems to falter, but its popularity at any moment can be hard to judge.
Director of operations and marketing for the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, says increasing interest is reflected in the growing number of people at the group’s Old House Fair ever year.
“When I see the addresses of people and see Friendship or the South Side, I can see we’re dealing with the old housing stock,” she says.
Mark Shar, technical supervisor of Allegheny Mouldings on the North Side, a company that produces woodwork for home projects, sees involvement with older homes as a steady fascination. He says 60 percent to 70 percent of his company’s work is in such jobs.
“Interest in redoing older homes has been strong since the early ’70s,” he says. “It’s no flash in the pan.”
Others in the industry say they see something of a decline. Ron Mistick, director of the South Side lumber yard for Allegheny Millworks, says there are fewer renovators seeking specialty wood than there were in the mid-’80s.
“People are just putting in what they want to,” he says.
Eric Younkins, a paint counter manager in the East Liberty Masterwork Paint & Decorating store, says he gets deeply involved in finding “historically correct” paint about 10 times a year.
When people get involved in renovation, the tasks can be addictive, according to Michael Santmeyer and Christopher Kerr of Manchester. They spent about $80,000 and 14 months renovating a Gothic Revival home – and now have it up for sale. That’s because they want to move on to their next North Side revival project, which will be their third.
“I know I’m never going to live in another house like this one,” Santmeyer says. “But it’s time to move on.”
Fred Mannion, president of the Manchester Historic Society, has spent 11 years redoing a 12-room home from 1890. And the work is nearly done.
“A lot of people are doing this because they want to turn a buck,” he says, “but most people just get caught up in making the homes look they way they could.”
Jeff and Shannon Mulholland got caught up in renovations when they bought a Queen Anne home in Edgeworth two years ago. They started doing some home improvements and decided to try to make it as faithful to the period as possible.
“For instance, we redid one of the bathrooms and took out the ’80s vanity,” she says. “It took a while to find the kind of sink that we wanted, but you can’t get too frustrated.”
That sort of dedication emerged when they began looking into an addition. They hired architect Shelley Clement, co-author of a book on historic homes in the Sewickley Valley. Mulholland says Clement paid attention to subtle things such as the size and shape of the bricks and the gentle sloping of the exterior walls.
It’s important to pay that sort of attention to the exterior of buildings, but generally not the interiors private homes, say local and federal officials. Private homes may get totally modern interiors and not lose any historic status, according to Sharon Park, chief of technical preservation from the National Park Service.
Manchester’s Mannion, for instance, added a totally modern apartment behind the 1890s exterior of the carriage house of his home while keeping the main house entirely historic. Both still fit into Manchester Historic District guidelines.
Similarly, the Fitzsimmons Square project being developed along Allegheny Avenue will have entirely new interiors, but still will meet district guidelines, says Mario Costanzo from Howard Hanna Real Estate.
Interest in renovation also, obviously, demands a supply of older housing stock. The Historic Review Commission for the city of Pittsburgh, the Historical Architecture Review Board for Homestead, West Homestead and Munhall, for example, help point out and develop that stock.
“Establishing a district as historic tends to stabilize a neighborhood,” says Angelique Bamberg of the city’s Historic Review Commission.
“A renewal is a win-win situation,” says Dennis Freeland is executive director of the Perry Hilltop Association for Successful Enterprise, a group that guides or initiates renewal. “When you have an crumbling house, nobody benefits. Nobody’s living there. They city is getting no tax money. The neighborhood suffers.”
But renewal can lead to the manifestation of an architectural style.
“You have to be able to see what a house can be and not concentrate on what it isn’t,” Santmeyer says.
– Bob Karlovits can be reached at (412) 320-7852 or bkarlovits@tribweb.com.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review
-
Heinz Hall celebrates 30 years as home of the symphony
09/06/2001
By Mark Kanny, Tribune Review Classical Music Critic
When the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra moved from the Syria Mosque in Oakland to the former Loew’s Penn Theater on Sixth Street, Downtown, it had its own home for the first time. It also marked the start of what has become the Cultural District, centralizing the arts Downtown among the corporate giants that support it.
The venue’s 30th anniversary was commemmorated Wednesday with a plaque from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation that recognizes the importance of Heinz Hall architecturally and to the city’s quality of life.
The opening of Heinz Hall on Sept. 10, 1971, was national news, covered by two reporters from the New York Times, as well as other out-of-town journalists. The major Pittsburgh papers were on strike, but local coverage was provided by the Valley News Dispatch and Market Square news.
The symphony had previously performed in Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, but its stage is too small for a full symphony orchestra, let alone choral works such as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Syria Mosque was no more than a stopgap, with serious acoustical problems.
Hopes were high for the new hall. At the time, conversion of movie theaters into concert halls was considered a good way to save money, since completely new buildings are more expensive to build. City music lovers took note of the success of the conversion of Powell Hall in St. Louis, which boasts warmly appealing acoustics.
Alas, opening night was a gala social event and an acoustical disaster. Heinz Hall has been visually appealing from day one, but sound is the most important feature of any concert hall.
Although out-of-town critics liked the sound on opening night, Pittsburgh music lovers were vociferous in condemnation of Heinz Hall acoustics. So much for some critics!
Part of the difficulty was that the large chorus needed for Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony forced the shell surrounding the performers out of position opening night. When the shell was in the position intended by acoustician Karl Keilholz in the following weeks, Heinz Hall sounded much better, but still had serious problems, especially the lack of bass.
Most of the problems derived from the financial necessity to use Heinz Hall for opera, ballet and theatrical productions. Multi-purpose halls always suffer in comparison with dedicated concert halls. In fact, it took a decade for musicians to win a hardwood stage floor. Hardwood is more stressful for dancers, but necessary for good bass response.
A major renovation in the summer of 1995 greatly improved the acoustics, but certainly did not solve all the problems. Local music lovers will hear a new sound next week, when a new seating arrangement will provide added focus to the string sound.
The first music played in Heinz Hall was Beethoven’s “The Consecration of the House” Overture. Only musicians can truly consecrate a concert hall and fulfill its potential to transform the lives of those in attendance. The more than 2,500 symphonic concerts and more than 4,000 other performances since opening night have made Heinz Hall the heart of music life in Pittsburgh.
– Mark Kanny can be reached at (412) 320-7877 or mkanny@tribweb.com.
-
Snapshot – Walter Curtis Kidney
Age: 69.
Occupation: Architectural Historian, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Best aspect of job: Researching and writing.
Family: Single.
Current project: “A book on the architect Henry Hornbostel.”
Hobbies: Trying to figure out the dates and locations of historic photographs. “Sometimes I can look at a view of downtown from Mount Washington and say `That had to be taken in 1906, because of what’s there and what isn’t there.'”
Favorite film: “The Children of Paradise.” “Colorful characters in a fascinating place (Paris 1840) makes romanticism comprehensible.”
Favorite read: Mystery stories and psychological novels and novels of manners.
Three things always in your refrigerator: Bread, chocolate and shrimp.
Favorite vacation: “I loaf sometimes, but never take vacations.”
Where he can be found Saturday nights: Home.
People may be surprised to know: “My only academic degree is a BA in philosophy.”
– William Loeffler
-
Carson home gets environmentally friendly makeover-PPG uses project to test new products; unions donate labor
By Pete Bishop
TRIBUNE-REVIEW 02/15/2001
Thanks to donations of time, effort and expertise, the girlhood home of one of America’s most famous environmentalists is getting an environmentally friendly face-lift.
The Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale Borough already sports new stainless steel gutters and a new roof of asphalt shingles that are configured to look like weathered cedar, said Danelle Ardell, Rachel Carson Homestead Association board president.
Interior painting is under way and exterior painting is scheduled, and both are “special because we’re using a paint formulated by PPG that has no volatile organic compounds,” she said.
“It’s good for the environment so that sensitive people are not accosted by the fumes of paint, and it’s also good for the workers.”
PPG Industries and Air Products, one of its resin suppliers, donated the paint, roofing materials and gutters.
District Council 57 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, United Union of Roofers Local 37, Sheet Metal Workers International Local 12 and the Carpenters Regional District Council of Western Pennsylvania contributed the labor.
Ardell said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, and Ellis Schmidlapp of Landmark Design Associates helped assure that the materials used maintained the historic authenticity of the Marion Avenue building in which Carson was born in 1907.
After graduating from Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham College, Carson wrote natural history articles for the Baltimore Sun and later became editor-in-chief of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publications.
Her book “Silent Spring,” published in 1962 and warning of the long-term effects of misusing pesticides, ranked fifth among the Modern Library’s 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century published in English.
Carson’s other books were “The Sense of Wonder,” “Under the Sea Wind,” “The Sea Around Us” and “The Edge of the Sea.” She died of breast cancer in 1964 at the age of 56.
PPG donated the materials because “we’re kind of attached to this historical landmark right here in Springdale” and because it welcomed the chance to “help out with the restoration of that facility,” said Bill Boberski, director of technology for architectural coatings at the plant there.
“Also, we always have products in development, and in this case we had some products that are very environmentally friendly. We were kind of anxious to take the opportunity to work with those products in that facility, which is linked to environmental issues, to find out how well they work and demonstrate their performance.”
Similarly, having supervised apprentices work on the homestead “gives us the opportunity to demonstrate the work we’re able to perform,” said Lee Libert, assistant educational coordinator of the carpenters’ council.
Furthermore, “it’s a nonprofit situation they’re in, and we see worthwhile projects as a responsibility,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Bill Ellenberger, apprenticeship and health and safety program director, said Council 57 tries to expand its apprenticeship program annually “into the community doing some worthwhile projects. These are ways we can get our apprentices acquainted with the community and get them to accept some responsibility.”
Ardell said work should be done by April, at which time some furnishings will be changed “with the goal of making it look more like it did when Rachel Carson lived there.” The Carsons took all their furniture with them when they moved after Rachel’s college graduation.
The homestead is closed to the public until renovations are completed. The free Wild Creatures Nature Trail, with seven learning stations teaching nature lessons with signs and letting visitors know what Carson might have experienced at each spot, is open daily during daylight hours.
– Pete Bishop can be reached at pbishop `Silent Spring: Alarums and Excursions.’
Where: Henry Heymann Theatre in the lower level of the Stephen Foster Memorial, Forbes Avenue, Oakland.
When: Continues through March 4. Curtain times are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Ticket information: (412) 624-7529.
Recepition: On Feb. 24, the Rachel Carson Homestead Association and Chatham College’s Rachel Carson Institute will have a post-show reception at the theater. Proceeds will benefit a project that distributes educational book covers about Carson. Tickets cost $45. For details, call Lisa Elliott at (724) 274-5459
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review
-
City officials hope Plan C will lure developers-Mayor says latest effort depends upon cooperation
By Elizabeth Barczak
TRIBUNE-REVIEW 02/04/2001
In the wake of the flood of protest over plans to raze and revamp part of Downtown Pittsburgh, a fresh attempt is turning the torrent toward a path of lesser resistance.
Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy finds himself wooing Downtown business leaders in his attempt to create a Plan C that meets his goal of making Downtown a destination for developers and suburban shoppers.
Plan C is said to stand for compromise as Murphy tries to mesh his vision with the demands of Downtown business owners and pervasive preservationists.
The future of the Fifth and Forbes corridor hangs in the balance as the Plan C task force strives to reach a consensus. The 15-member task force, which includes business leaders and local officials, is expected to make its recommendations to the mayor’s office this month.
After years of controversy over the fate of Fifth and Forbes, the task force’s recommendations could have a profound effect on the future of Downtown.
“I think in two years, maybe in one year, Fifth and Forbes will look different than it does today, and I think Downtown will continue to evolve,” said director of operations at the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
“There’s a clear indication and a clear understanding that something should happen quickly … a sort of a shoe leather hitting the street, so to speak,” McCollom said. “The idea is don’t rehash, don’t redo, don’t reinvent the wheel but move forward with the task at hand.”
McCollom opposed plans to raze Downtown buildings to make way for national retailers.
Murphy’s initial $522 million proposal called for the demolition of 62 Downtown properties to make way for new development. That plan died in November after upscale retailer Nordstrom Inc. pulled the plug on plans to anchor the project.
A second proposal harkened back to an earlier era with a Main Street approach that preserved many smaller businesses.
Now, Plan C holds the promise of merging the ideas into one cohesive plan.
“Any plan has to be one that moves with market forces … kind of an evolving plan, a living breathing plan,” McCollom said. “In our opinion, it is very difficult and risky to force the market by plopping this plan down in the middle of Downtown.”
The risks involved include investing millions of public dollars into a plan with an unknown return as well as alienating long-standing business owners.
Jeff Joyce, a Plan C task force member, called for a broad plan that reaches beyond Fifth and Forbes. Joyce is the president of the Market Square Association and owner of the 1902 Landmark Tavern.
“If we do the center of the city right, that will bring more investment and continued investment in housing so the business district will be able to grow from there,” he said.
Joyce said many of his customers recognize the need to revitalize Downtown.
“Everyone realizes that the Fifth and Forbes corridor needs change,” Joyce said. “The majority are for dramatic change, radical change.”
Joyce supported the mayor’s original plan but now is committed to working toward a compromise.
“The issues are the same – housing, parking and public transportation. All of these things need to be improved upon,” Joyce said. “I think there is still enough momentum left over from the first plan to build upon.”
Joyce said he expects a plan to be in place within a year with implementation over the next few years.
The question remains if the diverse task force will be able to reach a consensus and whether the mayor will accept its recommendations. Murphy said he would withhold judgment on the task force’s effectiveness until the recommendations are made.
“If the Plan C task force is not able to come up with a working plan and reach a consensus, then I think that the momentum will probably die over the next few months,” Joyce said.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review