Category Archive: Preservation Alert
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Council delays vote on status of historic North Side shelter
By The Tribune-Review
Thursday, July 17, 2008Pittsburgh City Council delayed a vote Wednesday on whether to give historic protection to a North Side building that serves as a Salvation Army homeless shelter and chapel.
The Salvation Army wants to demolish the 81-year-old building, which once served as the headquarters of the Ancient and Illustrious Order of the Knights of Malta, a social and community service club.The Mexican War Streets Society and North Side historic preservationists want to save the building because they believe its removal would ruin the historic character of the neighborhood. Council could consider the matter in two weeks.
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Councilman protests forced preservation of Malta Temple
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, July 15, 2008Forcing the Salvation Army to preserve an 81-year-old North Side religious and social services center would violate a city rule that says a church’s owner — not interlopers — must willingly seek historic protection, a Pittsburgh councilman said Monday.”Churches have an inherent right to have control over their own property,” said the Rev. Ricky Burgess, a councilman and pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Homewood. “They have autonomy in terms of seeking historic designation.”To back up his claim, Burgess cited a 2003 amendment to the city’s historic preservation law sponsored by then-Councilman Bob O’Connor.
The amendment states: “Nomination of a religious structure shall only be made by the owner(s) of record of the religious structure.”
A religious structure is defined as a “place of religious worship.”O’Connor fought for the amendment under the belief that some churches can’t afford to make repairs or facade improvements to comply with historic preservation standards.
Burgess said Sunday church services have been held regularly for nearly 35 years in the Salvation Army-owned property commonly known as the Malta Temple building because it is the former headquarters of the Ancient and Illustrious Order of the Knights of Malta.
The nonprofit Mexican War Street Society, a historic preservation group, nominated the Malta Temple for historic protection in January to prevent the Salvation Army from demolishing it.
The city Planning Commission and Historic Review Commission approved the nomination. It faces a preliminary vote Wednesday before City Council.
David McMunn, president of the society, said the Malta Temple is zoned as a commercial structure, not as a church. Allegheny County assessment records confirm that.
McMunn said tearing down the stately brick building at 100 W. North Ave. and replacing it with a modern building nearby would remove an important thread from the North Side’s already frayed historic fabric.
McMunn and other historic preservationists want the building to be renovated.
“The Salvation Army has first and foremost been a place of worship,” said Maj. Jim LaBossiere, Allegheny County coordinator for the organization.
LaBossiere agreed with Burgess’ argument.
He said religious services are held at 9:30 and 11:30 every Sunday morning in the Malta Temple building. The center doubles as a daytime homeless shelter where the indigent can receive lunch, counseling and use shower and laundry facilities.
Salvation Army officials have said previously that renovations would be too costly and that the building isn’t large enough to accommodate plans for additional worship, classroom, gymnasium and computer lab space.
“They don’t seem to see the need to partner with the neighborhood,” McMunn said. “Well, they need to because, as residents, we’re here forever.”
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.comor 412-765-2312.
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Market Square street closure may alter apartment project
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 3, 2008The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, a major investor in Market Square’s revitalization, might nix a new seven-unit apartment complex if the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership sticks to a plan to close some of the square to vehicles.The foundation is spending $3.5 million to renovate three vacant buildings on Graeme Street into Market at Fifth, a plan for seven upper-floor apartments, a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop garden.
The partnership’s plan would close Graeme, the apartments’ entrance, and nearby McMasters Way as part of a $4.8 million to $5 million Market Square overhaul that, so far, has gone smoothly.
“We do not see how people are going to want to rent apartments on a dead-end street. People do not frequent dead-end streets,” said attorney Anne E. Nelson, who voiced the concerns at a meeting of the city Historic Review Commission.
“If Graeme Street is closed, Landmarks does not know whether it should complete construction of the project,” Nelson said.Arthur P. Ziegler, the foundation’s president, said there’s time to develop the apartments as something else if a compromise can’t be reached and the street is closed.The commission approved Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s preliminary plans for Market Square, but members urged the partnership, a nonprofit that represents Downtown business owners, to find a solution with the foundation.
“We’re going to do what’s best for the square,” said Dina Klavon, the designer the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership hired to guide Market Square’s overhaul.
Klavon said she’s open to changes and plans to meet with Pittsburgh History & Landmarks officials.
“We’re trying to give Market Square back to the pedestrian,” said Mike Edwards, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. “Right now it’s a thoroughfare. We want it to be a destination.”
Edwards said renovation of Market Square could start in spring.
The most striking feature about Klavon’s design is that it would make Market Square resemble a one-level European piazza.
The roadway would be flush with sidewalks and outdoor cafes, which would be differentiated by using various types of pavement and cobblestone.
Traffic and parking would be permitted on the perimeter of the square. No traffic would be allowed in the middle, where Market Street and Forbes Avenue meet.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.comor 412-765-2312.
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Historic review panel OKs Market Square makeover
Thursday, July 03, 2008By Rich Lord,Pittsburgh Post-GazetteWork on pedestrian-friendly project might begin next spring
The proposed $5 million revamp of Market Square got a boost yesterday when Pittsburgh’s Historic Review Commission gushed over the reduced traffic, piazza-type design and nicer trees.
“This will be a miniature Parisian square,” said commission Vice Chairman Paul Tellers, whose motion to approve was unanimously adopted.
The commission put one condition on its approval: It wants project architect Dina Klavon to meet with the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to discuss concerns about the closing of alleys running from the square to Fifth Avenue.
The foundation is spending $3.5 million renovating four buildings near the square, and some of the second- and third-floor apartments would be accessed via one of the alleys, Graeme Way.
“If people want to drop other people off, or unload things to their apartments, they can’t get there,” said Anne E. Nelson, the foundation’s attorney.
Also closed to cars would be McMasters Way. Cars would be able to enter the square using Forbes Avenue and Market Street, and could drive around its perimeter. They could no longer drive through its center.
“We’re trying to give Market Square back to the pedestrians,” said Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership President Mike Edwards, whose group is leading the charge to repair the square. “Right now, it’s a thoroughfare. We want it to be a destination.”
The redesign would replace the network of streets, curbs and raised tree planters with a flat, curbless surface. Commission members questioned whether that would be safe, but accepted Ms. Klavon’s contention that paving walkways with brick, plaza areas with terrazzo and streets with granite squares called Eurocobble would safely separate people from cars.
They also wondered whether “interactive” lighting that changes as people walk by it was really necessary to create a “wow factor.”
“The elegance will be the wow factor,” said commission Chairman Michael Stern.
Construction could start in the spring, said Mr. Edwards.
Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.First published on July 3, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Dramatic redesign approved for Market Square
Wednesday, July 02, 2008The city of Pittsburgh’s Historic Review Commission today approved a dramatic redesign of Downtown’s Market Square, clearing the way for construction planning but urging that the architects meet with Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation officials about their concerns.
The redesign would allow car traffic around the outside of the square, but not in the streets that run through its center. It would replace the network of streets, curbs, and raised tree planters with a flat piazza, where driving, parking, dining and walking would be demarcated by different paving materials.
Closed to cars would be Graeme Way and McMasters Way, which link the square to Fifth Avenue.
“We’re trying to give Market Square back to the pedestrians,” said Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership President Mike Edwards, whose group is leading the charge on the $5 million reworking of the square. “Right now, it’s a thoroughfare. We want it to be a destination.”
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is concerned that the closure of Graeme Way to vehicles may crimp access to four buildings that it is renovating at a cost of $3.5 million, said Anne E. Nelson, the foundation’s attorney. The entrances to the second- and third-floor apartments will be off of Graeme Way, she said.
“If people want to drop other people off, or unload things to their apartments, they can’t get there,” Ms. Nelson said.
The commission placed one condition on its approval: that architect Dina Klavon meet with Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to work through its concerns. Ms. Klavon will bring more detailed drawings back to the commission for a final approval. Construction could start in the spring.
Overall, Historic Review Commission members gushed.
“This will be a miniature Parisian square,” said commission Vice Chairman Paul Tellers.
“The elegance will be the ‘wow’ factor,” said commission Chairman Michael Stern.
More details in tomorrow’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.First published on July 2, 2008 at 4:33 pm -
School board votes to close Schenley building
Thursday, June 26, 2008 -
Last bell at Schenley: Historic high school closes
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 11, 2008Students left Schenley High School on Tuesday more with a sense of resignation and eagerness for the summer than sadness for their school’s storied past.“You may not see any depression today, but I think in September it’ll hit us,” said activities director Joe Ehman.
As the last bell sounded at 11:10 a.m. Tuesday, freshmen, sophomores and juniors hugged each other, snapped photos in the hallway and said good-bye. Seniors had their last day of class Friday. In tribute, they scattered 92 roses — one for each year of the school’s existence — on its front steps.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” said Tariq Stephens, 16, a sophomore from Beltzhoover. “But I know at the end of the day it’s going to be crazy, because it’ll be the last time I see the inside of this building.”
The 1,127 Schenley students still do not know whether the Oakland school will close. The city school board will vote June 25 on a recommendation by city schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt to shut it down.Roosevelt has said the district cannot afford the $76.2 million cost of fixing the building’s mechanical systems and removing its asbestos.
Whether it closes or is renovated, Schenley students who will be in grades 10-12 in the fall are being assigned to Reizenstein School in East Liberty.
There was little evidence yesterday to indicate that Schenley was closing for good. One sign on the floor said, “Schenley we’ll miss you.”
“For a school that’s closing, it’s very quiet,” said Assistant Principal Nina Sacco. “It’s very peaceful.”
Sacco owes her very life to Schenley. Her grandparents met as Schenley students in the school auditorium.
Although classes have ended for students, teachers will be in school through the end of the week.
Kelly McKrell, an English and drama teacher, mulled her feelings in a room full of props such as a giant jukebox and an oversized pharaoh’s head, relics of the school musicals she has directed.
“It’s going to be difficult for me on Friday,” said McKrell, a Schenley graduate. “That’s the last day I walk out of this building and never come back. I don’t know how I’m going to walk out.”
Ehman has the unenviable task of returning to alumni all the memorabilia they gave the school over the years. “It’s just a big mess,” he said.
A couple from Kansas, graduates from the 1950s, came by recently to retrieve the wife’s megaphone and cheerleading uniform.
Schenley Principal Sophia Facaros, patrolling the halls, reminded a student to remove his earphones. She was so intent on making sure that students behaved properly that she did not have time to feel much of anything.
“There isn’t one ounce of emotion in me right now, because the job is too big to allow anything else to come into it,” she said.
Luke Trout, 17, a junior from Morningside, decided he was not leaving the school without a souvenir. He removed a framed picture of a rocket from the cafeteria wall “just to have something to remember Schenley.”
“What are they going to do,” he asked, “suspend me?”
As the clock wound down, security guard Marsha Comer hugged students good-bye.
“I can’t cry,” she said. “I love them. They’ll be okay.”
When the final bell rang, some students whooped their approval.
Then they trudged down the steps past the wilted roses.
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
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Owners’ fear: Razing houses will bring down theirs too
Monday, March 10, 2008
By Diana Nelson Jones,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe estate of her dead neighbor owns the condemned vacant row house beside Cynthia Powell’s home on Chateau Street. Its facade is strenuously bowing and trying to persuade hers to come with it.
No contractor has been willing to touch the offending building, and Ms. Powell says she can’t afford the loan she needs to stabilize her house against it. So her house has been condemned, too.
This has been a three-year spiral for Ms. Powell, whose Manchester neighborhood has many pending dates with the wrecking ball. Of the 25 demolitions the city has asked the Historic Review Commission to approve since October 2006, 21 have been in that neighborhood. It’s the only entire neighborhood to have city historic designation, but that status is in danger; less and less density would eventually alter the boundary.
“Once you lose too many, then you have to question: What’s the value of an historic district?” said Tom Hardy, executive director of the Manchester Citizens Corp. The nonprofit development group counted 103 vacant properties — about 20 percent of the neighborhood — in a 2005 inventory and recommended 100 be renovated, he said. Some have been razed, either for safety reasons or because the properties were not feasible fixes, and more are slated for demolition.
“The challenge is,” said Mr. Hardy, “which ones will you be successful at turning around considering realistic market forces?”
Manchester’s story today is a tale of two neighborhoods: the one that tour buses drive through slowly so people can admire the Victorian architecture, and the other of dumb, hollow hulks, their balconies and porches sagging, the definition of their brickwork vague, as if they are literally fading away.
The dual identity coexists side by side in places, and that’s an untenable situation for Ms. Powell, whose house is a party-wall domino trying to remain standing. For Duane Hill, the decrepitude adjacent to his home on Sheffield Street is outrunning his efforts to renovate.
The Historic Review Commission provides oversight for changes to properties in the city’s 12 historic districts and advocates for the life of those properties. It almost never hears opposition to demolition applications, but last week, Ms. Powell and Mr. Hill showed up to fight.
Dan Cipriani, acting chief of the Bureau of Building Inspections, said that, of the 200 buildings the city razes each year, almost all go down without a champion. The owners either want them down or they belong to people who can’t be found or are dead.
Mr. Hill lives beside a property he had been trying to shore up when the city condemned it.
“I was working on it when one wall started to bow,” he told the commission. “I have a contractor who is going to take on the job. If I could get you some information to show you we are going to fix it, could you please not tear it down? We’re going to start working on it soon, as soon as the weather breaks.”
“We’re glad to hear that,” said the commission’s chairman, Michael Stern, referring to any plan to redeem a building. “Usually, we’re up here just voting on demolitions.”
Commissioners denied the city its demolition of Mr. Hill’s property but with a stipulation — that a building permit be in place within two months.
For Ms. Powell, the outlook isn’t as rosy.
“We were trying to tear down 1904 to help her out, so she could fix her wall,” Russ Blaich, the Bureau of Building Inspection’s demolitions inspector, told the commission. “But the contractor who got the bid was afraid the bricks would blow.”
Mr. Cipriani said the building beside Ms. Powell’s was approved for demolition last year, but the demolition contractor “found that anything he would do would have an adverse effect on Ms. Powell’s house.”
“I moved out,” Ms. Powell told the commission. “I pay my taxes like anyone else, and I am not behind on my water bill. I want to keep my house.”
“Russ thinks there’s a public safety hazard,” said Mr. Stern.
“Rock and a hard place,” Mr. Blaich said sympathetically.
“I’m not going to tear my house down,” Ms. Powell said.
“I know they have a limited budget,” said Mr. Stern, “but maybe we could try to talk to Manchester Citizens Corp. and maybe [Pittsburgh] History & Landmarks [Foundation] to see if they could help. What about if we’d ask them to consider funding or working with you on this?”
“Whatever it takes,” said Ms. Powell.
Katherine Molnar, the city’s preservation planner, said she will talk to Manchester Citizens and the foundation but is “unaware of the various options and possibilities that might assist Ms. Powell.”
“Ms. Powell did indicate a willingness to repair her own building if the neighboring structure was shored up first. I feel hopeful that these two structures will persevere,” Ms. Molnar said.
Mr. Cipriani said the lamentable fact is that a delay of demolition usually just means further debilitation. In most cases, he said, “any of this should have been done 10 years ago.”
Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.
First published on March 10, 2008 at 12:00 am