Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Pools, Rivers, Fountains and More Offer Splashing Fun
By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Wednesday, July 14, 2010When it comes to cooling off, there aren’t many better or more efficient ways than getting soaked.
There are a variety of pools, rivers, fountains, rides and more available in Western Pennsylvania to take the edge off of even the hottest days — and we’ve certainly had plenty of those lately. So get out there and get wet.
Wave poolsThere’s nothing like getting drenched at one of Allegheny County’s three wave pools. On a sweltering day, few things are more inviting than a heaving expanse of cool blue water, with the afternoon sun dancing on the frothy waves. The county operates wave pools at Settler’s Cabin Park in Robinson, South Park in Bethel Park and Boyce Park in Plum.
The waves are created by a series of chambers concealed behind the rear wall of the pool. They blow compressed air that produces the waves, says Joe Olczak, director of public works. He says they can alter the height of the wave by changing the firing sequence of the chambers. They could make a wave as large as five feet, he says.
“We normally don’t do that because there’s a lot of young kids. We try to keep the waves one to two feet high.”
Settler’s Cabin wave pool is the most heavily used of the three. To beat the rush, go during the week. The weekend rush starts not long after the 11:30 a.m. opening time Friday. No outside food or drinks are permitted, but customers are permitted to bring their own chairs. Inner tubes can be rented for $5, with $1 refunded on the return.
All three pools are open 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Admission is $5 for adults; $4 for ages 13-17; $3 for age 60 and older and ages 6-12; $1 for age 5 and younger. Group discounts are available. Details: Settler’s Cabin Wave Pool, 412-787-2667; South Park Wave Pool, 412-831-0810; Boyce Park Wave Pool, 724-325-4677, or www.alleghenycounty.us/parks/fees/pools.aspx.
— William Loeffler
The big poolsPeople fond of whopping places for a cool plunge can choose from some of the biggest pools in Western Pennsylvania. Admission rates for adults range from $5 to $7.
North Park Pool — a 57,000-square-foot landmark built in the early 1930s — once claimed to be the largest pool in the United States. It offers a 20-foot-tall curved slide, separate baby pool, concession stand, swimming classes and 25-cent lockers in a big, slate-roofed bathhouse. Swimmers can rent flotation tubes, but rafts, belly boards and other flotation devices are prohibited. North Park Pool is on South Ridge Road in McCandless. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily. Details: 724-935-1951.
Dormont Pool is longer than a football field and also offers a curved slide, concession stand and swimming lessons, plus water aerobics classes. Dormont Pool is at Banksville Road and Dormont Avenue. Hours: noon to 8 p.m. daily. Details: 412-341-7210.
Ligonier Beach — a 400-by-100-foot pool — opened July 4, 1925, and shares 10 acres with a sit-down restaurant, picnic grove, sand area, snack bar, poolside bar and game room. Entertainer Dean Martin once worked as “a towel boy” at the pool, and bands continue to perform 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays. Feel free to bring your own raft or other flotation device. Ligonier Beach is at 1752 Route 30 East in Ligonier Township, Westmoreland County. Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Details: 724-238-5553 or www.ligonierbeach.com.
— Deborah Deasy
State parksPerhaps you’re allergic to chlorine. Maybe you don’t like man-made waves. Or it could be you’d rather not pay to swim.
Three state parks in the region offer cost-effective alternatives to crowded, and sometimes pricey, municipal and public pools.
At Keystone State Park in Derry, Westmoreland County, a 1,000-foot sand beach lies on the northern rim of Keystone Lake. No food, pets, beverages are allowed on the sand. Swimming is available from 8 a.m. to dusk, from mid-May through mid-September.
Moraine State Park in Portersville, Butler County, offers two swimming areas. Pleasant Valley Beach on the south shore of Lake Arthur features a 1,200-foot sand-and-turf beach, with a playground and sand volleyball court nearby. A 550-foot sand beach is the main feature of Lakeview Beach on the north shore. Both beaches have showers, changing rooms and food concessions nearby, and are open from sunrise to sunset, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. No pets are permitted on the beaches.
Raccoon State Park in Hookstown, Beaver County, features an 800-foot, sand-and-turf beach, with a bathhouse and concession stand nearby. Swimming is available from mid-May through mid-September.
All state parks are swim at your own risk; swimming at all state parks is free. Details: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/index.aspx.
— Rege Behe
OhiopyleGetting wet is easy around Ohiopyle. But watch out, it can be dangerous, too.
The Fayette County town is in the middle of a great outdoor area featuring mountains, a long bike trail and, of course, the Youghiogheny River. That waterway offers rafting trips that are among the best-known in the Mid-Atlantic area. Even if you stay in the boat, you’re bound to get wet.
The trips that begin near the town explore 7 1/2 miles of the Lower Yough, blasting through Class III and IV rapids. This is not a trip to be taken lightly and safety talks are part of every adventure to make sure rafters know what to do if they are tossed from the boat.
If these rapids are not enough, try trips on the Upper Yough, which is above the reservoir gated at nearby Confluence. This 5-mile trip roars through class V rapids and drops an average on 115 feet per mile. Because this is not dam-controlled these trips usually are spring-oriented when runoff gives the river flow.
But don’t forget the Middle Yough from Confluence to Ohiopyle. This stretch provides a generally placid trip with a few Class I and II rapids. Basically, though, it is a lovely trip through a deep Appalachian valley, the stuff folk songs are made of.
Outfitters such as Wilderness Voyageurs (800-272-4141) or Ohiopyle Trading Post (888-644-6795) handle a variety of trips near Ohiopyle. Prices vary according to the day, the trip, what kind of lunch is offered, or whether a guide is needed or included. They can go as high as $150 on the Upper Yough, $95 for the Lower or around $35 for a float on the Middle.
— Bob Karlovits
Spray parksCommunity swimming pools aren’t cheap to run and maintain, and every year, it seems, there’s a battle to keep more from closing. Another way for kids to cool off during the dog days of summer is the spray park.
Pittsburgh has two — one in Troy Hill that opened last year, and a new one that opened in Beechview this summer.
Spray parks feature an array of different water features, fountains, sprinklers, sprayers and mist-makers, many with sensors triggered by movement. Kids can sprint through the spray park setting them all off, or spend time soaking and redirecting the flow of their favorite features.
There’s no age limit, no worries about falling into the deep end. Children with disabilities — even wheelchairs — can participate.
“The response has been really great,” says Mike Radley, director of Citiparks. “It reaches a large spectrum of kids and neighbors.”
There are two other Allegheny County-run spray parks outside the city, at Round Hill Park in Elizabeth and Deer Lakes Park in Frazier. The one at Round Hill Park is called the Aquatic Playground, and has a farm theme — with fountains and sprayers shaped like pigs, barn doors and tall sunflowers.
City spray parks: Vanucci Playground, Orangewood Avenue, Beechview. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 412-255-2539. Goettman Street, Troy Hill. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 412-255-2539.
County spray parks: Round Hill Park, Hereford Drive, Elizabeth. 8 a.m. to sundown daily. 412-384-4701. Deer Lakes Park, Creighton Russelton Road, Frazier. 8 a.m. to sundown daily. 724-265-3520.
— Michael Machosky
Amusement parksWhether you’re going to Kennywood or Idlewild, there are guaranteed ways to cool off and get wet as the day gets hot.
On two of Kennywood’s three water rides, you almost certainly will get soaked. On the Raging Rapids, you ride in a round tube with five other people along a winding, bumpy river with at least one waterfall. On a hot day, get on this ride early before the lines get too long, then you’re wet clothes will help keep you cool as you explore the rest of the park.
On the Pittsburg Plunge you ride in a car that holds 20 people. It goes up a hill, around a bend and then, you guessed it, plunges 50 feet into a pool of water, generally drenching everyone inside and those on an observation platform.
The Log Jammer’s ability to soak is a little more iffy. Your best bet is to share your log with three of your heavier friends to get the maximum splash on both the smaller slope in the middle of the ride and the big hill at the end.
At Idlewild, the water fun is found in Soakzone, a large water park that has fountains and slides to fit every level of daring. There are five larger slides, some where you use rafts and some where you slide on your own backside. The hydrosoaker area allows you to spray your friends. Or stand under the tipping bucket as hundred of gallons of waters cascade down. For toddlers, the Little Squirts area has a shallow pool with fountains, waterfalls, and gurgling jets. For those a little older but not yet read for the big slides, Captain Kidd’s Adventure Galley has multiple small slides, jets, waterfalls and its own tipping bucket.
The water features are included in general admission to the parks.
Kennywood, West Mifflin. Hours: 10:30 a.m. until around 10 p.m. Admission: $17.49 to $35.99. Details: www.kennywood.com.
Soakzone, west of Ligonier. Admission: $21.99 to $29.99. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details: www.idlewild.com.
— Susan Jones
SandcastleThere are plenty of places to get wet at Sandcastle waterpark. Enjoy 14 fun-filled waterslides. The Blue Tubaluba slides are Sandcastle’s first dual-rider, enclosed slides. The Boardwalk Blasters body slides are for strong swimmers only because you race down two 25-foot long slides to a soaking surprise ending — a 7-foot free fall into a 12-foot-deep landing pool.
Brave thrill seekers will enjoy the Monster, a free-fall slide, starting 85-feet above the finish, with a gradual slope glide of 25 feet that drops to a steep 60 feet, hitting speeds up to 25 miles per hour.
There is a 20,000-square-foot wave pool. Willie’s Water Works is a pool where children control 20,000 gallons of water by pulling ropes, twisting valves and turning handles that unleash geysers, fountains and sprays. Surrounding it all is the Lazy River, a gently flowing stream a quarter-mile long.
Purchase a season pass and get wet as many times as you like.
Sandcastle, West Homestead. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays-Sundays (Memorial Day to Labor Day). Admission: $18.99-$29.99. Details: 412-462-6666 or www.sandcastlewaterpark.com.
— Joanne Klimovich Harrop
MuseumsTwo museums on the North Side have dedicated their top floors to playing in water.
• Bright yellow balls, clear tubes and lots and lots of running water make the Carnegie Science Center’s Exploration Station Junior a popular destination for the 3- to 6-year-old set.
The comfortably child height and brightly colored area is a great place for exploring scientific concepts like using a corkscrew device and wheels to raise water or just splashing around. Oversize blue and yellow vinyl bibs help ward off wet clothing and there’s a small hand dryer for damp spots.
Just outside the preschoolers’ station older kids and adults have their own area for water play and hydraulic exploration. At hip high metal troughs, they can construct water dams or connect clear tubes to direct the flow of water.
Carnegie Science Center, North Side. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays to Fridays and 10 a.m to 7 p.m. Saturdays: Admission: $17.95; $9.95 for ages 3-12. Details: 412-237-3400 or www.carnegiesciencecenter.org.
• The Waterplay exhibit takes up the whole top floor of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Kids can build a boat to float down the River and make its way through a dam. Or don boots and a slicker and walk through bubbling water jets that you can re-direct by making spouts with interlocking pipes. Better bring a change of clothing, because even the most cautious kid usually gets wet.
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, 10 Children’s Way. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $11; $10 for age 65 and older and ages 2-18. Details: 412-322-5058 or www.pittsburghkids.org.
— Alice T. Carter
PPG PlazaThe spurt and splash of the PPG Plaza fountain’s 140 water jets could help you chill even if you just watched them from beneath the shade of one of the plaza’s umbrella-covered tables.
The water forms complex, ever changing patterns as liquid columns soar up to 15 feet around the plaza’s central column.
Kids love the fountain’s flat no-barrier surface that allows them to meander or sprint through the unpredictable eruptions, risking or inviting a good soaking.
Guards enforce the plaza’s clearly posted rules which include no running; no beachwear, towels or sunbathing; no bikes, skateboards or animals; adult supervision of children and no drinking the water.
PPG Plaza is bordered by Third and Fourth avenues as well as PPG buildings 1 and 4, Downtown. The fountain operates every day through Oct. 1 with continuous operation from 6 to 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. and intermittently at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Details: 412- 434-1900 or www.ppgplace.com.
— Alice T. Carter
Water stepsGravity does the work at the Water Steps at North Shore Riverfront Park. From a pool in front of Hyde Park steak house on North Shore Drive, just west of PNC Park, the water descends over broad steps of sandstone blocks toward the Ohio River.
Each level provides a restful yet refreshing blend of cool water and warm sun, where you can sit in the stream and take in a spectacular view of Downtown. Straight ahead is the river, on which ducks may be seen enjoying the sight of humans in water.
The steps’ steady yet gentle flow of water fits the idyllic family-friendly environment.
— Mark Kanny
TubingFor the ultimate in sunny day relaxation therapy, set your bottom into an inner tube and allow a gentle river flow to propel you downstream between tree-lined river banks. This past weekend, the water temperature was a perfect 78 degrees.
The Pale Whale Canoe Fleet on the Clarion River in Cook Forest State Park offers tube rentals that include a drive upstream to your put-in. Choose from a two-hour, 2 1/2-mile float ($10 for a single, $18 for a figure-eight double) or the four-hour, 4-mile trek ($14 for single, $26 for double).
The river is a mild family friendly one that averages just 2 to 3 feet in depth. But even so, kids are strapped into life jackets for your set-your-own-pace river ride. Add an extra tube to strap on your cooler — or rent a floating cooler — and the day will be complete. There are plenty of stops — atop rocks or on the river bank — to enjoy a snack and cold drink.
From Pittsburgh, take I-79 north to I-80 east to the Brookville exit. Following Route 36 north, cross the Clarion River Bridge and make a right on River Road. Pale Whale will be on the left. Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, renting until 4 p.m. Details: 800-680-0160 or www.canoecookforest.com.
— Sally Quinn
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Kids Can Get Hands on With Historical Games at Old Economy Village
By Kellie B. Gormly, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Hoop Dreams. Children roll hoops with sticks at Old Economy Village. Old Economy Village Museum
Long before the days of battery-operated Buzz Lightyear toys and Wiis, kids had to get pretty creative in order to make toys and play games.
Children in the 19th century would amuse themselves with activities like rolling hoops with sticks, and doing “Lady Ann’s ring tosses,” which involved a stick tied to a wooden circle about the size of a doughnut. Kids would toss the stick around, and try to catch the circle with it. In another old-fashioned game, quoits, people would throw rings to land around a peg in the ground. Many of the toys were made with scrap wood that came from building houses.
“They had to make their own toys, mostly,” says Lynn Popovich, who is organizing a play-themed event at Old Economy Village this weekend. “You couldn’t go to the store and buy them. … Most of the toys back then were creative things that the parents sort of invented when the kids were little to keep them busy.”
On Saturday, Old Economy Village — which re-opened in April, after a state budget crisis closed the National Historic Landmark for a few months — will let its visitors explore, learn about and try out toys and games from the 1800s, when the Harmonists from Germany settled the Beaver County village. Hands On History Day features the old-fashioned amusements, along with arts and crafts, sack races, a historical scavenger hunt, and more. Kids can get their pictures taken while wearing reproduction 19th-century clothing, attend an 1830s schoolhouse session, watch puppet shows, play old instruments like kazoos, and more.
The activities will allow visitors of all ages to step back in time and enjoy getting a feel for early American life, says Popovich, who is the village’s volunteer coordinator and store manager.
“We just want them to come and have a fun time and experience the days of yore … with their children,” she says. “It’s something for the entire family. There aren’t a lot of activities where kids and parents can enjoy themselves together. They can walk around the garden, pavilion and gazebo, sit on the bench and reflect how people lived back then.
Kids, Popovich says, are “fascinated, I think, with how the children of yesterday lived, without the modern conveniences.”
“They love playing with the old-fashioned toys,” she says. “You wouldn’t think that they’d be interested because they’re so involved with iPods .. and all that high-tech stuff.”
Hands On History Day includes demonstrations from a blacksmith, weaver, broommaker, baker and other artisans, and visitors can try out these activities, Popovich says. The Ambridge Steel Drum Band will be performing at 1 and 3 p.m. Hot dogs, drinks and other snacks will be sold.
During school tours at the village, she says, the kids are fascinated by how their predecessors amused themselves without batteries and electricity.
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Hands On History Day_______________________________________________________________________________________When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $9 for age 11-64; $6 for ages 3-11; $8 for age 65 and older; free for age 2 and younger
Where: Old Economy Village, 270 16th St., Ambridge, Beaver County
Details: 724-266-4500 or website
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Former Turtle Creek High School’s Architecture, Importance Honored
By Tom Fontaine
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 15, 2010
On Saturday, officials will unveil two historical markers that commemorate the former Turtle Creek High School building's architectural significance and role in the community. Officials debated about demolishing the building five years ago, but a group led by former graduates Jill Hinkle, Bob Mock, Jeanne Flaherty and Connie Morenzi led vocal opposition. The Classical Revival-style, cream-colored brick building with stone and terra cotta trim was designed by Pittsburgh architect George Henry Schwan. Jasmine Goldband | Tribune-Review
The former Turtle Creek High School building has gone by several names and narrowly avoided the wrecking ball to remain a community centerpiece since opening during World War I.
On Saturday, officials will unveil two historical markers that commemorate the Monroeville Avenue building’s architectural significance and role in the community.
Although the markers were installed last week, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places three years ago and received historic designation last fall from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“It basically validates what people in Turtle Creek have felt all along,” said councilwoman Jill Henkel of the markers. Henkel is a 1978 graduate of the former Turtle Creek High School and one of four Turtle Creek natives who led a push to obtain historical designation for the building.
Ground was broken on the $200,000 building in August 1917, and it opened in February 1919 as Union High School, with students from Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, East Pittsburgh and parts of nine other communities, according to documents related to the National Register of Historic Places designation.
The Classical Revival-style, cream-colored brick building with stone and terra cotta trim was designed by Pittsburgh architect George Henry Schwan. He also designed the Twentieth Century Club’s original building in Oakland, the former Oakmont High School and laid out plans for factory-worker developments in Aliquippa and Akron, Ohio.
The building wasn’t home to just high school classes.
Westinghouse employees trained at night in classrooms and vocational shops. Women used school sewing machines after hours to earn money during the Great Depression. And the school’s large lawn provided “the only open green space in the borough,” Henkel said.
“Even today, people are always playing in it,” Henkel said of the lawn. “It’s basically a community park.”
The school would hit a peak enrollment of more than 2,100 students in the 1930s. Also in that decade, after East Pittsburgh and Wilmerding opened their own high schools, Union’s name was changed to Turtle Creek High School. In 1940, the school graduated just 365 students.
When Turtle Creek became part of the newly created Woodland Hills School District in the 1980s, the building became the new district’s East Junior High. Officials debated about demolishing the building five years ago, but a group led by former graduates Hinkle, Bob Mock, Jeanne Flaherty and Connie Morenzi led vocal opposition.
Ultimately, the district moved East Junior High students elsewhere and mothballed the Turtle Creek building for the 2008-09 school year; it reopened last August, housing the district’s new Woodland Hills Academy for elementary students.
“I would have laid down in front of the bulldozer if they tried to tear down the building,” said Mock, a 1968 graduate.
The unveiling of the marker, part of Turtle Creek Community Days festivities, begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at 126 Monroeville Ave.
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Steel Valley Agency Eyes Old Gym For After-School Use
By Chris Ramirez
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Christian Michaels, 8, shoots hoops during a summer camp at Homestead United Prebyterian Church in Homestead. The camp is organized by the Methodist Union of Social Agencies, or MUSA, which wants to run after school programs for middle school children in the Steel Valley Council of Governments' gymnasium. James Knox | Tribune-Review
Decades ago, the old gymnasium attached to the Steel Valley Council of Governments building was the place to go for pick-up basketball games and summer youth camps.
Not so much now.
Amid the walls, streaked with unsightly graffiti and time-yellowed pin-ups, the Rev. Jim Cannistraci sees potential.
He and a small-but-growing band of community leaders are trying to generate local support — and money — to convert the aging gym into a state-licensed center for programs that cater to middle school children.
“This isn’t my dream. It’s the dream of the community,” said Cannistraci, executive director of the Methodist Union of Social Agencies. “People want this and people need this.”
They envision starting a program that would see to the needs of children from West Homestead, Munhall and Homestead, where half the population is black and one in four residents lives below the poverty line, according to U.S. Census figures.
Among services Cannistraci hopes can be offered at the center would be help with homework, access to computer labs and career exploration sessions. The Methodist Union wants the program to start Sept. 1, but needs to raise more than $100,000 before then for improvements to the gym.
Cannistraci envisions the program serving about 50 students by the end of the upcoming school year, but expects it eventually to cater to as many as 125.
“A lot of kids get out of school at three, but their parents are still at work. That’s also when they face a lot of temptation to do things that can get them in trouble,” said Douglas R. Spencer, executive director for the Allegheny Children’s Initiative, a South Side nonprofit pushing for the change. “That time needs to be occupied with structured activities.”
RaVyn Wright, 9, (left) and Edaiza Sands, 10, have fun playing computer games during a summer camp at Homestead United Prebyterian Church in Homestead. The camp is organized by the Methodist Union of Social Agencies, or MUSA, which is looking to generate funds to renovate the former gym and building that belonged to Homestead High School for an after school program that would see to the needs of children from West Homestead, Munhall and Homestead.
Homestead does not have a YMCA, Boys and Girls clubs or a private community center for middle school students to go to in the afternoon as neighboring communities do. A local chapter of the Salvation Army offers a free after-school program for children ages 6 to 12, and Methodist Union of Social Agencies holds after-school programs at Barrett and Park elementary schools.
For more than 80 years, the Methodist Union has aided families and children of the Mon and Steel valleys. The past three decades have been among the most challenging as the two areas struggle to find solid financial footing in the wake of the steel industry’s collapse.
Last week, the Steel Valley Council of Governments, which owns the gym, examined the prospect of an after-school program at a public meeting.
The gym for years belonged to Homestead High School and often was the backdrop to basketball games and large student assemblies. But that changed in 1979 when the Homestead school district merged with West Homestead and Munhall to form the Steel Valley School District.
The Allegheny Works program, which offered job-training programs and operated out of the old high school as the collapse of the steel industry began in the 1980s, used the gym for workshops for many years. These days, however, the gym is used only sparingly.
The Steel Valley Council of Governments says the gym is habitable, but $750,000 is needed to make it usable for a variety of purposes in addition to the after-school program.
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Macy’s Puts Historic Downtown Building Up For Sale
By Kim Leonard and Sam Spatter, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The clock outside the Macy's store has lasted longer than the name above the door of the Downtown fixture, which in 1885 became home to a store doing business as Kaufmann Brothers. Justin Merriman | Tribune-Review
Macy’s is putting its historic, 13-story Downtown store on the selling block, with plans to lease back part of the space.
The department store chain didn’t name an asking price for the landmark that fills a block on Smithfield Street, between Forbes and Fifth avenues. Macy’s retail operations fill 10 floors, and offices are on part of a separate floor.
Macy’s Inc. has been considering its options for the Downtown building — which was the flagship store of Kaufmann’s for most of its history — during the past year or two, spokesman Jim Sluzewski said Wednesday.
“Our initial goal is to sell the building, and then lease back the space we need for a store and offices,” he said. If that can’t be done, Macy’s could find tenants for unused or now-underused space in the building, he said.
Sluzewski said the amount of space Macy’s retains in the building will “depend on discussions with a potential buyer.”
Commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley of St. Louis is marketing the store, which has 750,000 square feet of space, nearly 14 football fields.
Macy’s is jumping into the Downtown real estate market at a time when other major buildings also are for sale — Gateway Center, the Henry W. Oliver Building, EQT Tower, the Regional Enterprise Center and the Red Cross Building.
“The Downtown Pittsburgh market is extremely active now and is attracting a lot of interest,” said Pat Sentner, a principal with real estate firm NAI Pittsburgh Commercial.
The department store chain’s intent to lease part of the building makes it attractive to buyers, he said. But what’s important is how much space the retailer wants, and for how long, he said.
“If 75 percent or more of the building is part of the leaseback arrangement, that could attract an institutional type of investor” such as an investment group or foundation, Sentner said. If Macy’s wants half the space or less, a corporation or law firm might want to buy the building and use most of it for offices, he said.
Preserving the store in some form is key to keeping Downtown healthy and vibrant, observers said.
“It’s important to keep Macy’s Downtown and continue it as a retailer of excellent merchandise,” said Mike Edwards, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. “I’ve seen it in other cities. Department store owners are retailers who don’t want to own real estate.”
Retail expert C. Britt Beemer said Macy’s closed stores in several downtown areas in recent years. “Pittsburgh is fortunate to have one, and it’s good to maintain downtown stores — they have a history and a sense of integrity.”
“Department stores used to be major property owners in many cities. Now they’re mainly tenants in malls and shopping centers,” said Beemer of America’s Research Group in Charleston, S.C.
Cincinnati-based Macy’s owns 469 of its 850 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores. Spokesman Sluzewski said Macy’s always is looking to maximize its use of space in stores. The company maintains many downtown stores, he said, citing 15 other examples.
Patricia Edwards of Storehouse Partners LLC in Seattle said department store chains, especially in the rough economy of recent years, “are really trying to make sure each individual store is profitable, as opposed to just the chain itself.”
In September 2006, Macy’s kicked off its new presence Downtown and elsewhere in the region with a block party on Smithfield Street. It promised to keep the landmark corner clock at Smithfield and Fifth, the Tic Toc restaurant on the first floor, holiday events and other favorite Kaufmann’s features.
Still, Duquesne University marketing professor Audrey Guskey said shoppers in the region gave Macy’s a lukewarm reception.
“A lot of people were disappointed in the quality of merchandise, the service and the hours,” she said. “Also, Macy’s goal was to become a national department store, and they were very cookie-cutter — the Pittsburgh stores were like Cleveland, L.A. and Chicago.” Macy’s since then has been tailoring merchandise to various regions’ tastes, Guskey added.
In the past three decades, Downtown has lost four department stores, including a Lord and Taylor department store next to the Macy’s building.
Macy’s sales nationwide last year totaled $23.5 billion, down 5.6 percent from 2008. The company’s profit was $350 million, after a $4.8 billion loss in 2008.
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Key dates:• 1877: Brothers Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann open a four-story store at Smithfield Street and what now is Forbes
Avenue, moving their tailoring business from the South Side.
• 1885: Store becomes Kaufmann Brothers, filling a block between Forbes and Fifth avenues.
• 1913: Another expansion brings the store to 12 stories.
• 1946: May Department Stores Inc. acquires Kaufmann’s.
• 1955: A 10-story addition on the store’s Fifth Avenue side is built, along with a parking garage.
• 2002: May closes Kaufmann’s headquarters on the Downtown store’s upper floors. About 1,200 jobs are lost.
• 2005: Macy’s parent, Federated Department Stores Inc., buys May company.
• 2006: Kaufmann’s and department stores in other cities that were part of May are changed to the Macy’s name.
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Fundraiser Puts Lawrenceville Empty Pool to Use
By Craig Smith
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 11, 2010Retired Pittsburgh police officer Marty Joyce heard loud music in his Lawrenceville neighborhood Saturday afternoon and went to investigate.
The Leslie Park Pool, now empty of water, was filled with Zumba dancers who were helping to heighten awareness of a campaign to find alternative uses for the pool and to raise funds for gulf oil spill restoration efforts.
“There used to be lots of kids here. It was always jumping,” Joyce said of the pool where he used to take his son.
Modeled after an effort at the McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, that was closed two decades ago and reopened as a concert venue, the Lawrenceville event was part of the inaugural series being staged by the Leslie Park Pool Collective, a community group working to reuse the decommissioned pool as a multi-use event and performance space.
Proceeds from the event, called the “Spillapalooza,” benefit the Gulf Restoration Network. Organizers said they hadn’t set a dollar goal but expected to be able to send some donations to the Gulf Coast group.
The Leslie Park Pool was closed in 2003, when Pittsburgh decommissioned 16 city pools. Some are being reused, but the Leslie Park Pool has sat vacant. Estimates for needed repairs were more than $1 million.
Neighborhood residents working as the Leslie Park Pool Initiative launched an effort to “reimagine” and redevelop the pool. Last year, they held an Accordion Pool Party that attracted about 600 people and included a clean-up that pulled almost half a ton of garbage from the property.
The Spillapalooza enabled Beth Renshaw to take her second Zumba class of the day. Zumba is a fitness program inspired by Latin dance. “It’s a fabulous cause, and I love Zumba. Why wouldn’t I be here?” said Renshaw of Shadyside, who left the event to play volleyball.
There will be more fundraising for the Gulf Coast and more events to help rethink use of the empty pool, organizers said.
“This is not a one and done thing,” said Shane Freeman, who organized the grassroots group that staged yesterday’s event. It came together in a month and a half, he said.
Next up at the pool is a surf music concert on July 24.
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Airport Museum to Welcome Visitors Every Weekend
By A.J. Panian, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 9, 2010Since attracting about 300 visitors in just one weekend recently, the KLBE Air Museum will be open every weekend this summer.
More volunteers are being sought for the facility dedicated to aviation history at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, said board member Don Rossi at a meeting Tuesday of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority.
“We’re looking for anyone with artistic ability and a love of aviation history … anybody capable of working with displays,” said Rossi, a pilot who owns the hangar housing the museum.
The museum opened for the first time to a throng of onlookers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 29 and May 30. It will continue to operate during those hours Saturdays and Sundays, starting this weekend. There is no charge for admission, but parking is limited.
Volunteers are needed to sift through a large number of photographs and memorabilia and coordinate the items into presentable exhibits.
“The more volunteers we get that are capable of doing the work, the more exhibits we can complete,” Rossi said.
In official flight-tracking terms, “K” means airport, and “LBE” means Latrobe.
The museum features “Old Blue” — a vintage, single-engine Stinson Reliant — along with a life-sized MiG15 UTI, a 1967 Cessna 150, and a Great Lakes Co. aircraft. It has a 24-seat theater outfitted with airline seats, where audiences can watch aviation-related films.
The facility is on the airport’s east ramp, along Route 981, across from Kennametal.
Those interested in volunteering are asked to call the airport authority office at 724-539-8100.
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Fallingwater Cottage Designs on Display at Carnegie
By Kurt Shaw, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The jury chose the entry of Patkau Architects as the winner of this first-ever design competition. Their design shows that the juxtaposition of the project to Fallingwater is not as important as the juxtaposition of the project to the landscape, being that it proposes building the cabins into the rolling hillside. Patkau Architects
Located in Mill Run, just 90 minutes by car southeast of Pittsburgh, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater is an icon of 20th-century architecture that draws approximately 150,000 admirers from around the world, all year long.
Built between 1936 and 1939 for the Kaufmann family — owners of the Pittsburgh department store — it was intended to be a second home, a vacation retreat deep in the woods, hovering above a small waterfall in Bear Run.
Today it stands alone, as it did in 1963, when Edgar Kaufmann Jr. transferred ownership of the house and landscape to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. But imagine, if you will, what it would be like if the surrounding Bear Run Nature Reserve, which has grown to 5,061 acres, were filled with cabins, like the countless other cabin-filled enclaves located throughout Western Pennsylvania?
As Fallingwater reaches its 75th anniversary, the conservancy decided to answer that question by inviting six architectural practices — three from the United States and three from Canada — to design cottages for a site a short distance from the main house.
All six proposals are currently on display at Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art in the exhibit “Design Competition: New Cottages at Fallingwater.”
The second-place winner was Wendell Burnette Architects. Their proposal would be above ground, but integrated nonetheless among the forest. Wendell Burnette Architects
The participating firms, each known for environmental sensitivity, are Marlon Blackwell Architect, Fayetteville, Ark.; Wendell Burnette Architects, Phoenix, Ariz.; MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Olson Kundig Architects, Seattle, Wash.; Patkau Architects, Vancouver, British Columbia; and Saucier + Perrotte Architectes, Montreal, Quebec
Each practice was allowed four 24-inch-by-36-inch boards and one model representing a typical cottage unit. The firms were encouraged to give their own unique spin on it, with the additional goal of creating a sustainable design.
Intended to house students and/or teachers during onsite residency programs, the structures were planned to be LEED-certified platinum, which is energy efficient, site sensitive and low-maintenance. All of this in a tidy little package of about 700 square feet, including a small kitchen, open space with a fireplace and a bathroom.
“The architects were challenged to critically engage Wright’s formidable legacy and to address contemporary concerns regarding ecology and sense of place,” says Raymund Ryan, curator of architecture at the Heinz Architectural Center, and one of eight members of the competition jury.
The jury chose the entry of Patkau Architects as the winner of this first-ever design competition. Their model is located in the center of the exhibit.
Established in 1978, the firm has built many houses, schools and cultural institutions in British Columbia, structures characterized by articulate detailing, sheltering roofs and close attention to site.
Across Canada, Patkau Architects also are responsible for the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario, and the Grande Bibliotheque de Quebec in Montreal. For Fallingwater, they envisage sections of standard steel covered in fill, as “an intensification of the swelling ground-plane of the meadow.”
Here, their design shows that the juxtaposition of the project to Fallingwater is not as important as the juxtaposition of the project to the landscape, being that it proposes building the cabins into the rolling hillside. “It is of the hill, not on the hill,” Ryan says.
At first glance, it appears to be the most simple of all six on display. But look closer, and it’s easy to see why this proposal stood out for the jurors. It could be one or two units or even eight or nine. It is a natural system and has a collective quality.
“It appears simple but is well-integrated and thoughtful,” Ryan says. “It will be a fantastic, unique experience inside.”
The second-place winner was Wendell Burnette Architects. Their proposal would be above ground, but integrated nonetheless among the forest.
Like the Patkau design, the basic design could be expanded into multiple units. “Each cottage would be quiet, modest, but important in its conversation with nature,” Ryan says. “The architecture is not deferential, but respectful.”
The design of Olson Kundig Architects was chosen as the third-place winner.
Highlighting two aspects of the landscape surrounding Fallingwater — the forests and the fields — the project considers flow of people as well as the flow of land. “The unit is a response to how people gather and suggests how landscapes can be gathered and bridged,” Ryan says.
All three of these designs incorporate the use of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building materials. Each of these cottages would be situated to take full advantage of natural heating and cooling opportunities and to minimize environmental impacts. Plus, each could be easily maintained during three seasons and just as easily closed over the winter.
Patkau Architects’ winning design for six small, efficient, sustainable cottages will serve as the basis of a final design, to be implemented following regulatory approval and fundraising.
These new cottages will serve an important outreach goal by expanding lodging capacity for participants in Fallingwater Institute’s diverse educational programs.
‘Design Competition: New Cottages at Fallingwater’When: Through Aug. 22. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; until 8 p.m. Thursdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays
Admission: $15; $12 for senior citizens; $11 for children and students; free for age 2 and younger
Where: Heinz Architectural Center at Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland
Details: 412-622-3131 or website