Category Archive: Preservation News
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Getty Foundation Grant to Support Historic Campus Heritage Program
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation announced today it has received a Campus Heritage grant from the Getty Foundation. It will enable Landmarks to undertake conservation planning studies of buildings and landscapes of four major Western Pennsylvania colleges and universities: Seton Hill, Washington and Jefferson, Indiana U. of PA, and California U. of PA. This is the second Campus Heritage grant to Landmarks from the Getty Foundation.
“The Getty’s peer review committee is impressed by Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation emphasis upon collaboration among several educational institutions,” said Getty Foundation Director, Deborah Marrow. During this final year of the Campus Heritage initiative, we are pleased to fund the preservation planning for four of Pennsylvania’s historically important campuses.”
The purpose of the Campus Heritage program is to encourage colleges and universities to develop preservation plans for their historic buildings and landscapes. Getty Foundation awarded a previous grant to Landmarks in 2005 to enable it to study the historic campuses of Allegheny College, Geneva College, Slippery Rock University, and Grove City College. The reports of Landmarks were enthusiastically received by the presidents, staff, faculty and students of all four institutions and has already resulted in successful fund-raising by the schools to begin to implement the plans.
“This grant brings notable and significant outside recognition and assistance to our rich collection of historic colleges and universities scattered throughout Western Pennsylvania, “said Arthur Ziegler, President of Landmarks. We look forward to another year of intensive activity together with developing educational programs with these institutions to involve faculty, students, and staff in a useful learning process with the professional staff and consultants of Landmarks.”
The work will begin in July and be concluded by March 31, 2009. The team will be Eugene Matta, Landmarks Director of Real Estate and Special Development Projects, who will manage the project; Thomas Keffer, Property Restoration Manager; Landmarks Design Associates, architects; and Liberto Landscape Design, all of whom are local and who worked successfully on the first Campus Heritage Grant.
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Nephew seeks city historic status for August Wilson home
By Jodi Weigand
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 12, 2007The nephew of late Pittsburgh playwright August Wilson wants his uncle’s childhood home to mean as much to the community as did the man who once lived there.
“He wrote plays about the Hill District that took on national significance,” attorney Paul Ellis Jr. said of his uncle’s 10-play chronicle of black American life.
On Wednesday, Ellis asked the city’s Historic Review Commission to name Wilson’s former home — at 1727 Bedford Ave. — a historic structure. Commission members will vote Aug. 1. The request would need approval from the city Planning Commission and City Council.
“I don’t think there’s a question about whether we should designate this,” said commission Chairman Michael Stern.
The state dedicated a historical marker in May.
Ellis, 37, lives a block away from where Wilson grew up with his five brothers and sisters. Ellis bought the house in 2005 — the same year his uncle died at age 60. He began pursuing the historical designation about a year later.
“Many of the identified historical aspects in the Hill are gone,” Steven Paul, executive director of Preservation Pittsburgh, told the commission. “This is an example of an important structure for the community.”
Ellis said he has begun interior renovations and plans to restore the exterior of the structure to what it looked like when Wilson was a child.
“(The task) is physically and emotionally draining,” Ellis said. “What keeps me going is the spirit of my uncle and the desire to make a significant contribution to my community.
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Postal Service staying in Carnegie, but not in old post office
Thursday, July 12, 2007
By Carole Gilbert Brown
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe bad news for Carnegie is that the U.S. Postal Service is not interested in continuing ownership of its landmark post office building on East Main Street in the heart of the borough.
But the really good news is that the Postal Service intends to remain in the borough and relocate into leased space at the corner of Broadway and East Main streets, just a few blocks away.
No time frame for the relocation has been announced.
The developments were announced following a special meeting Monday afternoon at the Carnegie Municipal Building attended by U. S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, a team of USPS officials from the Pittsburgh District Post Office and representatives from Carnegie, Collier, Moon and Robinson.
“They don’t want to own buildings anymore is what they said,” reported Carnegie Council member Dorothy Kelly, who attended the private meeting.
She went on to say that she made a case for the federal government to turn over the 1916 Beaux Arts style building to the borough, arguing that, as a government building, it has not had to pay taxes on the structure and that it has failed to keep up with routine maintenance.
The roof leaks and some sections of the building, which was designed and built to be a post office, need to be painted.
Because of its age, architecture and history, the building would qualify for listings in national and state historic landmark registries.
Mrs. Kelly said she did not receive a specific response to her suggestion, though postal officials said future uses for the building would be handled by its assets management department.
Authorities indicated the USPS has suffered financially because of competition from private mail delivery services like UPS and FedEx. Last November, USPS spokesman Tad Kelley said, “What’s important to us is that we have a delivery [method] for people in the Carnegie ZIP code and that we have retail space.”
The Carnegie 15106 ZIP code serves Carnegie, Rosslyn Farms, Heidelberg and portions of Scott and Collier.
He added that USPS is trying to keep costs in line with services and comply with Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.
The new location would have access to parking in front of the Family Dollar store, as well as maneuvering ease to a loading dock.
Monday’s session also addressed concerns from surrounding, growing communities that would like to have their own ZIP codes. Moon shares its 15108 ZIP code with Coraopolis, but five ZIP codes service Robinson and four are used in Collier.
Mr. Kelley said last year that municipalities often attach their identities to ZIP codes, which the USPS views as simply numerical paths for sorting mail, much of which is done by automation.
Municipal representatives interested in obtaining single ZIP codes for their communities were given procedural information and contact numbers.
(Carole Gilbert Brown is a freelance writer. )
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Mt. Lebanon celebrates 100-year history of oldest Municipal Golf Course
Thursday, July 12, 2007
By Laura Pace,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAmid the lush green fairways dotted with golf carts, 150 people Saturday evening toasted the 100th anniversary of the Mt. Lebanon Public Golf Course on Pine Avenue during a daylong fete that culminated in the unveiling of the Historic Landmark plaque honoring the oldest municipal course in the state.
Hackers and duffers basked in the setting sun, still clad in their saddle shoes, resplendent in plaid pants, shorts and polos. With a birds-eye view of the nine-hole course and the surrounding homes of Mt. Lebanon and Castle Shannon, they regrouped under a huge white tent, swaying to the music of Uptown Rhythm and Brass band, as they tilted back cups of wine, beer and soda and munched on local fare from a line of chafing dishes.
The most saluted couple of the evening was George C. Smith, and his wife, Margaret, who met in physics class at Mt. Lebanon High School in 1944. Mr. Smith’s forefathers bought the 197 acres that later became the golf course.
“I think they made a good investment,” he said.
Also basking in the family connection was Templeton Smith Jr., whose great-grandfather, Richard L. Smith, was George Smith’s father’s brother, on Templeton’s mother’s side, no less. And yes, they had a cheat sheet on all of this to keep it straight.
Templeton Smith Jr. recalled his childhood when Mt. Lebanon staffers used to ice the hill just off the No. 7 tee and rent toboggans in winter. His wife, Lea Anderson, clad in a striking black and white halter and with red peep-toe shoes, also beamed at the memories.
Tickets to the morning tournament were $200 for a foursome and $400 for a foursome for the afternoon tourney. All players were invited to the evening gala, but tickets to just the gala were $50. While the total amount raised and the final cost was not yet available, officials said proceeds probably more than covered the bill, as many of the items and services were given free or at cost.
The goal of the event was to raise the profile of the course and spark awareness.
“I can tell you that we did it on a total shoestring,” said public information officer Susan Fleming Morgans.
Buckets of golf balls anchored Mylar balloons floating along the cart paths and tables wore breezy linens in a honeydew and cantaloupe plaid.
Celebrating the event were commissioners Keith Mulvihill, Barbara Logan, John Daley and Dale Colby, along with Castle Shannon Mayor Don Baumgarten, who was thrilled to live so close to the facility.
“To have a course like this in the middle of a residential area is great,” he said. He also played the links earlier that day, as did 148 other golfers in two sold-out tourneys.
He wouldn’t cough up his score.
Other Lebo notables included Municipal Manager Stephen Feller and Assistant Manager Marcia Taylor, municipal engineer Dan Deiseroth and Fire Chief Nick Sohyda, Public Information Officer and Mt. Lebanon Magazine Editor Susan Fleming Morgans, Recreation Director David Donnellan and Golf Pro Matt Kluck, who gave clinics earlier in the day and wore an ear-to-ear grin throughout the event.
Also lauded were golf committee members Tom Butcher, Chris Kemerer, Sandy Loughren, Michael Meerhoff, Anne Noland, Paul Prisco and Johann Smit.
Helping to run the show were community chairpersons Steve and Amelia Dean and honorary chairs Rocky and Jan Bleier, along with host Alby Oxenreiter.
“I took a seven on No. 7 today, just to celebrate,” Mr. Oxenreiter said, noting Saturday’s date of 7/7/07.
Mr. Bleier, a Mt. Lebanon resident, toasted the quality of the course and the humor of golfing with Mr. Oxenreiter.
“It only took us 3-1/2 hours to play because after every hole, Alby would tell another story,” said the great former Steelers running back and Vietnam veteran.
“It’s wonderful,” he said of the course, which has seen more than a million rounds of golf since it began as a three-hole club in 1907. “It will be here for a lifetime.”
Its storied past included a stint as a zoological garden in the 1870s, reported Steve Dean. And when it finally became a golf course, it was only the second in the country to allow women to play — and join — years before women even earned the right to vote.
Mt. Lebanon purchased the George Ormiston-built course in 1948. It is currently in the midst of a five-year renovation plan, which has included more than $330,000 worth of improvements on the way to a major overhaul, which could include a new clubhouse and practice range.
The daylong celebration included two sold-out tournaments that led up to the evening gala. A silent auction of rare sports memorabilia featured such items as an Arnold Palmer-signed commemorative poster and autographed Tiger Woods photo. Looking thrilled with her auction score, Mt. Lebanon Public Library Director Cynthia Richey toted away a signed Hank Aaron photo and Lance Armstrong photo, both large and impressively framed.
No one won the coveted $10,000 putt-off, which would have required a 50-foot putt on the sixth green, nor did anyone take home the $20,000 for a hole-in one.
But the four-person Mt. Lebanon team of Frank Nappi, Mark Cuddy, Paul Lackner and Steve Magdsick reveled in their 155-point victory in the afternoon tournament, with Mr. Nappi saluting course superintendent David Ames for making everything so green and perfect.
“It was fun,” Mr. Nappi said. The foursome took home $25 each for their victory.
Louise Sturgess, executive director of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and a Mt. Lebanon resident, told the crowd the foundation has awarded 525 plaques since it began the program in 1968.
“I don’t know of any other group who deserves this more,” she said of the committee that nominated the course. She said it’s the first time the foundation received a nomination bound as a book and filled with color photos and documenting the course’s players, including members of the Mellon family.
The scorecard
Winners of the Mt. Lebanon 100th anniversary golf tournament on Saturday were:Longest drive (women): Nicole Donellan.
Longest drive (men): Bob Zanone.
Closest to the pin (men): Ed Kuenzig.
Closest to the pin (women): Janet Kluck.
Longest putt: Mary Meerhoff.
Sponsors tournament (18 holes) winners:
First place, score of 155: Frank Nappi, Mark Cuddy. Paul Lackner, Steve Magdsick.
Second place, score of 158: Bill, Ken, Tom and William Zanone.
Third place, score of 161: Jim and Tyler Noland; John Nichols and Colin Gray.
Friends and Family Event (nine holes) winners, all scored 89, first-place team won with a seven on the second hole of a scorecard playoff:
First place: Ken Kierzkowski, Paul and Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Paul Ciaverella.
Second place: Ken Szefi, Erich Stabenow, Jim Simmons and Paul Cullen.
Third place: Randall Stewart, Joe Gioffre, Mike Lewarchik and Dennis Scarsella.
(Laura Pace can be reached at lpace@post-gazette.com or 412-851-1867. )
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Oliver Miller homestead site of Whiskey Rebellion drama
Thursday, July 12, 2007
By Margaret Smykla
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteWhen the tax collector comes calling in South Park on Sunday, Phil Haines will be waiting for him.
Smartly attired in a gray waistcoat and pants, made in the fashion that was worn in the 1790s, Mr. Haines, playing the part of pioneer William Miller, will plead his case until tempers flare, rifles are fired, and the rest, as they say, is history.
It will all take place during re-enactments at 2 and 3 p.m. Sunday at the historic Oliver Miller Homestead, where the first shots of the Whiskey Rebellion were fired on July 15, 1794.
The anniversary celebration will also feature, just as it does each Sunday from late April through early December, volunteer associates in period clothing demonstrating pioneer crafts, such as spinning, weaving, quilting, and open-hearth cooking, and conducting tours of the property’s four buildings and grounds.
The homestead is open from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., with the last admittance at 4 p.m. Admission is $1.
Associate and tour director Paula Bowman, of Jefferson Hills, estimated that in 2006 more than 1,000 visitors took a scheduled tour of the site, and more than 3,000 people visited on Sundays.
“It’s important for people to see what happened back then; we’re here today because of [pioneers] like them,” said Mr. Haines, of Bethel Park, a homestead board member.
The Whiskey Rebellion was an organized rebellion among farmers over a federal law that levied a tax of 7 cents per gallon of whiskey. The main money crop of frontier farmers, whiskey was used for medical purposes, as a beverage, and as a medium of exchange.
On July 15, 1794, officers attempted to serve a writ on William Miller, son of Oliver Miller, imposing a fine for failure to register his still, and for not paying taxes based on an estimate of how much whiskey he would produce that year.
When nearby farmers heard the arguing, they fired shots in the air to scare away the officers.
Regarded by President George Washington as an early challenge to the new federal government, the insurrection was quickly suppressed. The whiskey tax, which went largely uncollected, was repealed in 1803.
Because of the family’s involvement in the Whiskey Rebellion, the homestead’s stone house has been declared a National Historic Landmark.
For more information on the Oliver Miller Homestead, located on Stone Manse Drive, and upcoming events there, or to schedule a tour, call 412-835-1554, or visit www.15122.com/OliverMiller .
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Mt. Lebanon historical society hopes to get a home
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 12, 2007A Mt. Lebanon historical group wants to move its collection of artifacts from homes and rented storage space to its first permanent home.
The Historical Society of Mount Lebanon, organized in 1998, hopes to sublease the basement of a building owned by the Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority and recently asked the municipality for help paying for the plan.
A central repository for its collection will be key to the society’s continued growth, said Margaret Jackson of Dormont, the group’s president.
“I just feel that when we have that physical space, people will get excited,” she said.
Among the artifacts accumulated are children’s clothing from the 1890s, photographs and newspaper clippings, and 66 Mt. Lebanon High School yearbooks — including the school’s first, from 1931.
It also has a board game called “The Game of Mt. Lebanon.”Copies of plat books from 1934 showing the streets and subdivisions of Mt. Lebanon are stored in the living room of Wallace F. Workmaster, 73, the group’s first president.
The retired museum administrator and college professor said the documents are “marvelous research tools” that help show the community’s growth.
“If you’re trying to look at the evolution of a community, you want to know why they built what, and when,” he said.
An 1876 map of Scott shows the village of Mt. Lebanon contained 10 homes, a school, a blacksmith’s shop, a church and a general store, Workmaster said.
A permanent home for the society would preserve the history of a community whose growth was tied to the development of the automobile, he said.
Street cars began running from Pittsburgh to Mt. Lebanon in 1901, but it was the advent of “the rubber-tired vehicle that made Mt. Lebanon,” Workmaster said.
“In 1912, there were six registered automobiles in Mt. Lebanon,” he said. “By July, they were debating putting speed limits on Washington Road.”
By 1934, many families in Mt. Lebanon had two cars, Workmaster said.
The historical society’s request for $2,500 to help defray the cost of its new home could be added to next year’s budget or be paid this year, said Mt. Lebanon Commissioner David Humphreys, who says the idea of having a place for displaying the municipality’s history is important.
The commissioners haven’t formally discussed the issue of helping fund the society’s move, said Steve Feller, Mt. Lebanon manager. Work on next year’s budget will begin in November.
Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5646.
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Ceiling collapse at Schenley High clouds building’s future
Wednesday, July 11, 2007By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials will check ceilings throughout Schenley High School after a collapse in a second-floor stairwell yesterday forced the relocation of summer school for about 900 students.
The incident may rekindle debate about the future of the triangle-shaped Oakland landmark, which architects have said would need $55.7 million to $86.9 million in renovations to remove asbestos and address other problems.
A custodian found the fallen ceiling after arriving at work early yesterday.
The district canceled summer school for high school students yesterday and later announced it was relocating the classes to Peabody High School in East Liberty for the duration of the term, which expires July 30.
Schenley hosted summer classes for students from all 10 district high schools.
Classes will operate on the usual schedule. The district today will begin providing shuttle buses at dismissal time to help students get from Peabody to their regular Port Authority bus stops.
District spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said she did not know whether the ceiling collapse released asbestos into the air.
She said tests determined there was no air-quality problem immediately outside the stairwell. But she said no test yet had been performed inside the stairwell, which was enclosed after the ceiling collapse.
Ms. Pugh wasn’t able to say whether Schenley will hold its orientation program for incoming freshmen next month. Each high school is scheduled to hold the orientation, a new program, before the 2007-08 year begins.
The fate of the building, which is more than 90 years old and on the National Register of Historic Places, has been in limbo since November 2005. That’s when school Superintendent Mark Roosevelt, citing the high renovation costs, proposed closing the building and moving Schenley High School to the former Reizenstein Middle School building in Shadyside.
He pulled the proposal for further study after students and parents objected, citing Schenley’s storied history and high achievement. Supporters said the school’s location in vibrant Oakland had helped to make its international studies program a success.
Since then, officials have discussed possible financing methods but made no decision, even though they’ve lamented the district’s growing capital costs and the related strain on the operating budget. The recently launched project on districtwide high school improvement could help to determine the building’s future.
(Joe Smydo can be reached at jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548. )
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More condos proposed for Strip District
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wednesday, July 11, 2007Yet another condo project is in the works not far from Downtown.
Solara Venture IV, LLC is seeking a loan of up to $390,000 from the city Urban Redevelopment Authority to help finance acquisition and pre-development costs for a proposed 60-unit condominium development in the Strip District.
The company is planning to convert the Otto Milk Building on Smallman Street between 24th and 25th streets into condos, with smaller units starting at $180,000, according to the URA. The development also would include two floors of retail and office space, plus 75 parking stalls.
URA board members are expected to consider a Pittsburgh Development Fund loan of up to $390,000 at their meeting this week.