Category Archive: Preservation News
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Cinema fans preserve local old-school movie houses
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 7, 2008When an opportunity to buy the movie theater she used to frequent as a child came up six years ago, Meg Burkardt and two friends jumped at the chance.
Burkardt, Cyndi Yount and Marc Serrao, all of Penn Hills, bought the Oaks Theater in Oakmont with one goal in mind: preserving a dying breed.
“This is definitely a labor of love,” Burkardt said.
The Oaks has avoided the fate of most of the neighborhood movie theaters that once dotted this area’s towns.
“This is an area where you had a lot of Main Streets, and many of them had a theater. One of the main casualties on Main Street has been the theaters,” said Al Tannler, director of collections at the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
The Oaks, which opened in 1938 and seats 430, “rounds out the community,” said Bob Cooper, president of the Oakmont Chamber of Commerce.Interest in preserving old movie houses has grown over the past decade.
The Denis Theater in Mt. Lebanon, which has been closed for about 20 years, was bought by newly elected Commissioner D. Raja, who is studying how best to use the building.
The Strand in Zelienople will reopen later this year after a $1 million face-lift, said its owner, Ron Carter, 40, of Cranberry, who plans to eventually convert the theater into a performing arts center. The theater opened in 1914 as a silent movie house and vaudeville theater.
The Web site Cinema Treasures was launched eight years ago to help preserve movie theaters. The site links “movie theater owners and enthusiasts in an effort to help save the last remaining movie palaces across the country.”
In the early days, movie theaters would open at 10 a.m. and close at 11 p.m., said Michael Aronson, assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon and author of a soon-to-be-released book on the early days of movies in Pittsburgh.
“Some people would go after work. It was an alternative to going to the saloon,” he said.
The social aspect of going to the movies made them stand out, Aronson said. “It wasn’t just what was on the screen.”
Today, neighborhood movie theaters are luring customers with lower ticket and concession stand prices.
The January reopening of the Hollywood Theater in Dormont has added an extra draw to the business district, attracting patrons to nearby Potomac Avenue and its restaurants, merchants said.
The Bradley Center, an agency serving children with mental, emotional and developmental disabilities, reopened the 300-seat Hollywood for second-run films.
Dan Bahur, 50, of Pleasant Hills got his start in the “movie biz” as an usher when he was 16.
“My friends were working at theaters and I got a job. I got sucked in and never left,” said Bahur, manager of the Hollywood, where he worked 20 years ago. He came back when he heard the theater was reopening.
The theater, which opened in 1933, has undergone extensive renovations to its lobby and projection booth. The theater is Dolby-digital capable and has new seats.
“We have a really good theater here. We have an awesome place to see a movie in,” Bahur said. ” ‘Ben Hur’ on a 19-inch screen is a lot different than on a 30-foot-screen.”
The Hollywood has been a hit with neighbors.
“It’s so nice to have a theater in your neighborhood. A lot of people walk to it,” said John Maggio of Dormont. With its single screen, “you don’t hear other movies in the other rooms.”
The Ambridge Family Theater got its start in the late 1960s in a former sewing machine store.
“This is a great little business. It’s not going to make us wealthy by any means,” said Glenda Cockrum, who bought the theater with her husband, Rick, about 10 years ago.
The theater is involved in the community, and often hosts Scout troops or high school groups. Cockrum said she was bitten by the “movie bug” while working as an assistant manager for Carmike Cinema.
Her own theater is a little smaller. It seats 134.
“We used to have four movie theaters in Ambridge. This is the only one left,” said Mayor Carl “Buzzy” Notarianni, who saw “Serpico” and “The Ten Commandments” at the theater.
It’s a family operation. Cockrum handles booking, advertising, painting and the box office. Her husband is the projectionist, plumber, electrician, computer programmer and bookkeeper.
For the Cockrums, who have four children, simple economics dictated their plans to buy the theater.
“It was cheaper to buy the theater than to take the kids to the movies each week,” Glenda Cockrum said with a laugh.
Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.
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Funding secures region’s black history
By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, February 6, 2008A 1950s print of Herron Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District is among of 750,000 images from the New Pittsburgh Courier archives.
They are snapshots from Pittsburgh’s past.
Black troops return home from World War II and march down Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. Downtown protesters call for an end to segregation at city pools. A baseball player signs with the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues.
The photographs are part of a Pittsburgh Courier archive of more than 750,000 images being preserved and protected in a project to make them available for research, education and public display. The nonprofit group Pittsburgh Courier Images on Tuesday received a $150,000 federal grant to get the effort started.
“The upshot of this is about sharing this treasure,” said Rod Doss, editor and publisher of the New Pittsburgh Courier. “This is not just a Pittsburgh treasure; it’s a U.S. treasure.”
Opening the archive creates a rare portal into nearly a century of black history in this region and the nation, Doss said. The newspaper is “honored to be the keeper of what is an incredible and extensive record” of black history throughout the 20th century, he said.
At its peak, the Courier was the most widely circulated black newspaper in the United States. It published 21 regional editions across the country and a national edition.
The newspaper will mark its 100th anniversary in 2010.
The archive includes shots by about 250 photographers of black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Sen. Adam Clayton Powell; highlights of the civil rights movement such as the “Little Rock Nine” integrating classes at Central High in Little Rock, Ark.; jazz, blues and classical musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Billy Eckstine; famous sports figures; and thousands of scenes from everyday life in black communities.
“This money is a good foundation for us to start to assess and organize the collection,” said Laura S. Horner of Edgewood, project director for Pittsburgh Courier Images.
More than 60,000 of the photos were shot by legendary photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris for the Courier between 1936 and 1975.
In celebration of Black History Month, some of Harris’ work was on display last night at the City-County Building, Downtown. Born in Pittsburgh in 1908, Harris died in 1998.
The grant was obtained through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Save America’s Treasures Program.
The archive provides “valuable documentation of the history of the momentous struggle for racial equality in our country,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, who helped to secure the grant.
David M. Brown can be reached at dbrown@tribweb.com or 412-380-5614.
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Sale of Union Trust Building completed for $24.1 million
By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, February 6, 2008The historic Union Trust Building in Downtown Pittsburgh has been sold.
Mika Realty Group of Los Angeles completed the previously announced purchase of the 11-story building from Teal Rock 501 Grant Street LP, a unit of Cigna Corp. of Philadelphia, on Tuesday for $24.1 million.The purchase, through Mika’s Five 501 Grant St. Partners LLC, was recorded today at the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds offfice.
The new owner will continue to use the building for offices, plus first floor retail, said Jeffrey Ackerman, commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, who negotiated the sale.
Efforts will be made by Ackerman and Jeremy Kronman, also of CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, to locate tenants for the 800,000-square-foot building which is nearly empty, except for several retail tenants on the ground level.
Previously known as Two Mellon Bank Center, the building was designed in Flemish Gothic style by noted Pittsburgh architect F. J. Osterling and built in 1916 for industrialist Henry Clay Frick.
Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com or 412-320-7843.
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Historic status for Wilson’s boyhood home hits political snag
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh City Council will consider historic designation for the boyhood home of the late playwright August Wilson despite a timing problem that could complicate the effort, members said yesterday.
Mr. Wilson’s niece, Kimberly Ellis, said that it would be “a citywide disgrace” if politics jeopardized the designation.
The house at 1727 Bedford Ave. in the Hill District was nominated in March for historic designation by Paul Ellis Jr., nephew of Mr. Wilson and brother of Kim Ellis. The Historic Review Commission and city planning commission both signed off. The petition was sent to council Oct. 10 for final approval.
There it sat until last week, when Mr. Ellis complained. The city code indicates that if council doesn’t act on a historic designation within 90 days of its introduction, the application is denied and can’t be resubmitted for five years, said Council President Doug Shields. That deadline passed early this month.
Mr. Shields got a Law Department opinion saying that since the delay was not Mr. Ellis’ fault, it shouldn’t count against him. He said council will hold a public hearing and vote on the designation.
Mr. Shields said the legislation stalled after it went to the chair of the Planning, Zoning and Land Use Committee. Last year, that was Councilwoman Tonya Payne, of the Hill.
Ms. Payne said she didn’t “know what happened to it,” but when she found out it had fallen through the cracks, she “started chasing it down.”
Ms. Ellis, chair of the Historic Hill Initiative, said she has been “an outspoken critic” of Ms. Payne since the councilwoman backed a bid to put a slots parlor in the neighborhood.
“To think that there would be a four-month delay to historic designation due to politics is a disgrace,” she said.
Ms. Payne said historic designation is “a slam dunk.”
Mr. Ellis said making the house a historic structure is “a great way to honor my uncle’s legacy. Part of my motivation is the scarcity of African-American historic landmarks in the city.”
The emergence of the designation bill follows Monday’s announcement of a $35,300 grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation to the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. That grant is to help Mr. Ellis to turn the now-vacant house into a retreat for writers.
Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Restaurant, grocer signed for Cork Factory retail space
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe owner of the Clark Bar and Grill on the North Side and Caffe Amante, Downtown, plans to open a restaurant and cigar and wine bar as part of the Cork Factory development in the Strip District.
The restaurant is one of two businesses planning to occupy the retail space located directly across the street from the Cork Factory, a 297-unit apartment complex at Railroad and 23rd streets that opened in May.
A specialty grocery store also is in the works. It will occupy nearly half of the 45,000 square feet of retail space available in the 3.5-acre Cork Factory development.
Both the restaurant and the grocer have executed leases and are expected to open for business this spring, according to a news release issued yesterday by Cork Factory developer McCaffery Interests.
“This is a catalyst project that I believe is going to create great change, not only for the Strip but for Downtown Pittsburgh,” said Katie Pliscott, leasing director of McCaffery.
The restaurant will be operated by Angelo Lamatrice and his son, David. The Lamatrices currently own and operate the Clark Bar and Grill on the North Side near the stadiums and Caffe Amante in Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown.
Angelo Lamatrice did not want to talk about the Cork Factory venture yesterday, saying plans were still being finalized.
“It’s early,” he said.
But according to the developer, the restaurant will occupy about 10,000 square feet of space and will feature a “sophisticated” wine and cigar bar. There also will be VIP rooms, Ms. Pliscott said.
The operator of the specialty grocery store has not been identified. Ms. Pliscott would give few details about the store, but said it would be operated by a Pittsburgh businessman.
With the plans for the restaurant and grocer, only about 11,000 square feet of retail space remains in the complex.
Since opening last year, the Cork Factory has rented 87 percent of its units, which range from studio apartments to three-bedroom lofts. Rents run from $1,200 a month to $3,900 a month.
Besides the retail development within the complex, there are plans to develop a full-service marina on the Allegheny riverfront.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Decision on Schenley High School postponed
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Joe Smydo,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe city school board’s vote on the closing of the Pittsburgh Schenley High School building will be put off until spring so officials can continue to study the feasibility of renovating the building.
A vote on the building’s fate was widely expected at the board’s Feb. 27 legislative meeting.
Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt last night said he didn’t want to give Schenley supporters false hope, but wants more time to study “every option” for saving the building.
“We believe we should spend a couple of extra months doing that,” he told board members at a workshop on high school improvement.
School board member Heather Arnet thanked Mr. Roosevelt for considering pleas to spare the historic Oakland building.
Kathy Fine, a Schenley supporter, called the announcement a “very positive move” and a nod to community members who have been brainstorming for ways to raise money and reduce renovation costs.
Mr. Roosevelt unleashed a firestorm last fall when he proposed closing the building at the end of the school year, saying the district couldn’t afford $64 million to address asbestos and other maintenance problems.
He has proposed moving Schenley’s current 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders to the Reizenstein building in Shadyside next school year and allowing them to remain together until graduation. Students who would have entered Schenley as freshmen next school year would be absorbed by other schools.
The district held a public hearing on the proposal Nov. 27 so the board could vote Feb. 27. State law requires that a hearing be held at least three months before the vote to close a school.
Mr. Roosevelt said he never committed to a Feb. 27 vote on the building’s future, though people have had that impression. He said he will ask the board to vote next month on moving students out of the Schenley building for the next school year.
Whether the building is closed or renovated, he said, students won’t be able to attend class there in 2008-09.
He said the board must vote promptly on reassigning the students so Reizenstein or another building can be readied for them.
Joe Smydo can be reached at jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Save-a-Lot may put a food store in the Hill District
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, January 29, 2008A St. Louis-based grocery store chain that specializes in serving inner-city neighborhoods could set up shop in the Hill District, according to the Landmarks Community Capital Corp.
“This is a grocer who has a great connection to this market, is interested in developing in urban markets and is open to minority ownership,” said Howard B. Slaughter Jr., CEO of Landmarks Capital, part of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Slaughter declined to identify the company, but he would not deny speculation that it is discount grocer Save-a-Lot, which is based in St. Louis and has five stores in the Pittsburgh area, including Duquesne, Wilkinsburg and Lawrenceville.
“It has to be Save-a-Lot. It matches up in terms of the number of stores, and it likes those demographics,” said industry consultant Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group in New York.
Slaughter said in a news release that the grocer has 1,200 stores in 39 states and is the nation’s fifth-largest chain. Those figures mirror statistics about Save-a-Lot on the company’s Web site. A spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment.
Slaughter said he and the grocer will discuss a market analysis and site inspection of a possible Centre Avenue location for the store at an 8:30 a.m. news conference today at Station Square.
The grocery store operator could be eligible for up to $2 million in loans from The Reinvestment Fund of Philadelphia to cover start-up costs such as buying land and recruiting employees, Slaughter said.
Separately, the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Pittsburgh Penguins have offered up to $2 million in start-up financing to a company willing to open what would become the Hill District’s lone grocery store.
The commitment is in response to neighbors who are demanding an agreement that includes provisions for a grocery store from the city, Penguins and Allegheny County before the $290 million Uptown arena is built for the Penguins.
“It’s always positive to have operators that are interested,” said Carl Redwood Jr., chairman of the One Hill Coalition, a group seeking a community benefits agreement. “We just need to make sure that the community needs are met. There are some people in the community that wouldn’t call this their ideal store.”
Redwood said some members of One Hill might not like a discount chain that lacks the amenities of some supermarket chains such as a pharmacy.
In 2006, some Hill District residents rejected efforts by Aldi, a German-owned discount chain, to open a store on Centre Avenue because they believed it would ruin chances to attract a full-service grocery store.
The neighborhood hasn’t had a full-service store since Shop ‘n Save closed its AUBA Plaza store on Centre Avenue in the early 1980s.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.
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Hill District Could Finally Get Grocery Store
January 29, 2008
PITTSBURGH (KDKA)The Hill District may be one step closer to getting a much-anticipated, much-needed grocery store.
Our news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that a Saint Louis-based company has confirmed its interest in building a “Save-A-Lot” store in the Hill.
The preferred site for a store is unknown but one location under consideration is at Centre Avenue and Heldman Street.
Company officials said the process is still in the preliminary stages at this point.
Save-A-Lot has 1,200 stores in 39 states.
The company looked at the Hill District in the 2004 and decided against putting one there.
Watch the video at this link: http://kdka.com/local/Save.A.Lot.2.640355.html