Category Archive: Preservation News
-
‘Market at Fifth’ center of multimillion-dollar makeover
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, January 31, 2007A trio of deteriorated but historically significant buildings once in the crosshairs of a city wrecking ball now are part of plans to revitalize Downtown.
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation plans to join the vacant buildings on the edge of Market Square as “Market at Fifth,” a $2.5 million to $3 million complex that will include a ground-level restaurant or retail store, seven upper-floor apartments and a rooftop garden.
“This is purely a do-good project,” said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., foundation president.
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks is assuming a role as a city developer nearly three decades after transforming a group of historic Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station buildings in the South Side into the Station Square complex that attracts about 3 million people annually.
“We’re engaged here in an act of significant preservation because of the nature and location of these buildings,” Ziegler said.
For years, the South Side-based foundation fought to save what it considered significant buildings in the city’s Fifth-Forbes retail corridor, particularly after former Mayor Tom Murphy proposed revitalization plans that included substantial demolition.
Among those targeted were:
• 439 Market St., the fire-damaged, four-story former home of the Alexander’s Graham Bell bar
• 441 Market St., four stories, which still bears its “Novelties” store sign
• 130 Fifth Ave., the two-story former Regal Shoe Co. with a noteworthy architectural bloodline
“All three are significant buildings,” Ziegler said, and all are within the Market Square historic district.
The 439 Market and 441 Market structures are examples of Victorian commercial buildings, constructed in Italianate style in the late 1880s, said Ziegler and Al Tannler, the foundation’s historian.
The Regal Shoes building, which opened in 1908, was designed by Alden & Harlow, then one of city’s prominent architectural firms, responsible for the Carnegie Institute and Library additions in Oakland and Carnegie branch libraries in various communities.
The building’s chief designer was one of the firm’s principals, Frank E. Alden, who in the late 1800s worked with architect H.H. Richardson, supervising construction of such noteworthy Downtown buildings as the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail, Tannler said.
After more than a decade of failed city redevelopment efforts, the foundation — in the final year of the three-term Murphy administration — secured an agreement from then-Deputy Mayor Tom Cox to accept its offer to pay $33,000 to physically stabilize the 1870s-vintage 439 Market building so it wouldn’t crumble to the ground.
The foundation stepped in after the cash-strapped city said it couldn’t afford to fix it, and wanted to tear it down for safety reasons.
“Still, nothing happened,” said Ziegler — until Mayor Bob O’Connor took office in 2006 and decided to allow multiple private developers to redevelop city-owned properties.
When O’Connor died last year, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl continued that strategy. Focused more heavily on residential development than on retail, the city’s Downtown development effort is led by Washington County’s Millcraft Industries Inc., PNC Financial Services Group and its representative, Oxford Development Co.
“Things are really moving forward now,” said Jerome Dettore, executive director of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Dettore said the Murphy administration delayed doing something with the buildings because it believed the city needed to retain a number of buildings it could to turn over to one master developer.
“They didn’t want to do it piecemeal,” he said.
“I’m thrilled with the (foundation’s) plan,” said Mino Fazio, co-owner and executive chef of Ciao Baby in Market Square.
Fazio’s Italian restaurant at 435 Market is adjacent to the 439 Market building. From his building’s roof, one can look inside the neighboring structure, whose roof collapsed several years ago.
“For years the city did nothing, but it’s going to be great to see things finally getting fixed up Downtown,” he said.
In December, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks won the redevelopment authority’s approval to buy the three buildings for $257,000. It hopes to start work once it obtains other city approvals, possibly within two months, Ziegler said. The city Historic Review Commission will review the project Feb. 7.
Market at Fifth will be an example of how to renovate historic buildings according to environmentally-friendly “green building” standards, said Ellis Schmidlapp, architect for the project.
The work will include recyclable building materials and energy-efficient mechanical systems. The rooftop garden, accessible from two units, will absorb moisture and reduce water run-off.
“This will be important in showing in the Fifth-Forbes corridor how a restoration/adaptive use project can be part of a revitalization,” said Schmidlapp, principal in South Side-based Landmark Design Associates.
“It will preserve three historic buildings, and put them back into productive use.”
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
-
Residents decry their exclusion at talks of Hill’s future
Monday, January 29, 2007
By Nate Guidry,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSeveral Hill District residents, community leaders and clergymen gathered outside Gate One of Mellon Arena yesterday to express their frustrations with Pittsburgh and Allegheny County officials for not being invited to participate in any of the talks related to development of the Hill District.
“The mayor should have respected the community enough to invite us to the talks,” said the Rev. Johnnie Monroe, pastor of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church.
“Not only did the mayor not invite the local citizens, he did not invite our local representatives. Jake Wheatley [D-Hill District] and [Councilwoman] Tonya Payne were not at the table. Why were they not at the table? I think the mayor, the governor and county officials need to answer that question. How do you make decisions for people and they are not represented?”
“This is about inclusion,” Mr. Wheatley said. “As a community of people, we expect to be at any table that is going to make decisions about the future of our community.”
Mr. Wheatley said he has conveyed residents’ concerns to Gov. Ed Rendell.
“We cannot move forward, especially when you are talking about developmental rights, and not involve the community,” continued Mr. Wheatley. “The concerns of residents need to be part of that conversation. The governor has not given me a response, but I think he is sensitive to that. I think the mayor and the county executive are sensitive to that.
“I think we have to figure out a way to correct this before plans are finalized as it relates to the developmental rights to this site.”
(Nate Guidry can be reached at nguidry@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3865. )
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette
-
Hill District leaders seek arena role
By Andrew Conte
TRIBUNE-REVIEWHill District community leaders said Sunday they want to share in development rights for the Lower Hill District if a new Uptown arena gets built. Those rights for the Mellon Arena site could be worth tens of millions of dollars, and they are at the center of negotiations between public officials and the Penguins over how to pay for an arena.
“It’s unconscionable and unacceptable to negotiate development rights without engaging the community,” said Marimba Milliones, chair of the Hill Community Development Corp. “There needs to be an envisioning process.”
Penguins spokesman David Morehouse said the hockey team sought community input before it partnered with Isle of Capri Casinos on a proposal to build an arena with gambling money. Last month, state officials granted the sole Pittsburgh slots license to PITG Gaming, which plans to build a casino on the North Shore, west of Carnegie Science Center. Morehouse said the Penguins would continue to work with community leaders if the team decides to stay in Pittsburgh.
“It’s a little premature to comment on development when we’re not even sure yet whether we’re going to be here,” Morehouse said.
About a dozen people — including Hill District residents, ministers and social workers — announced yesterday outside Mellon Arena that they have formed a new group, the Greater Hill District Development League.
The group wants to be part of the ongoing arena negotiations and to have a say in redevelopment of the Mellon Arena site, said state Rep. Jake Wheatley Jr., D-Hill District. Members hope to meet this week with local public officials.
“The community itself wants, needs and demands a seat at the table,” Wheatley said. “We want to be a part of the future of this site.”
Talks between public officials and the Penguins broke off this month over development rights and revenues from a proposed arena. The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority, which owns Mellon Arena, had agreed to give the rights to anyone who helped pay for a new arena.
Gov. Ed Rendell has said he expects to talk with Penguins owners early this week to resume negotiations.
Don Barden, of PITG Gaming, has agreed to pay $7.5 million a year for 30 years toward an arena. The state would pay $7 million a year from an economic development fund backed with gambling money.
The original proposal called for the Penguins to pay $8.5 million up front and $2.9 million a year while forgoing $1.16 million a year in naming rights. Rendell has said public officials have significantly reduced the team’s contribution but the amount has not been made public.
Andrew Conte can be reached at aconte@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7835.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review © Pittsburgh Tribune Review
-
Group seeks designation for former city stable
By Bobby Kerlik
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, January 29, 2007Erected 112 years ago, a three-story building on West North Avenue on the North Side once stabled horses for the Allegheny City public works department.
A local historic group wants to designate the building — now used as a private garage — as a historic structure.“There are very few municipally owned buildings left from the city of Allegheny,” said Timothy Zinn, 43, of the Allegheny West historic group. “The Department of Public Works had several stables at one point. This appears to be the only one left — from Pittsburgh or Allegheny.”
Built in 1895 for $12,260, the stable housed horses used for everyday tasks such as hauling water tanks to clean the streets, Zinn said.
After Pittsburgh swallowed Allegheny City in a forced annexation in 1907, Pittsburgh continued using the building as a public works stable until horses were phased out. The stable then was used as a garage, said Michael D. Eversmeyer, chairman of city’s Historical Review Commission.
“In 1928 the city of Pittsburgh still used 300 horses in various departments,” said Eversmeyer, chairman of city’s Historical Review Commission.Pittsburgh sold the building in 1969.
The commission will consider the proposal Feb. 7, although City Council will have the final say on the designation. Once a building is designated as historic, the owner must get approval from the commission before doing work on the exterior.
Building owner Jim Rutledge could not be reached for comment.
Tenant Al Land, of Spring Hill, rents the building from Rutledge to work on cars. He said historical buffs have asked to film or take pictures of the building in the past.
“I used to work here as a kid when it was a delivery company,” Land said. “I like the building. I hope they don’t kick me out. I don’t know what I would do with these cars.”
Zinn admitted the building is in poor condition. Windows on the first floor have been filled in with concrete bricks, and many of the windows on the second and third floors are broken or have been boarded up.
A faded sign, proclaiming “DPW Bureau of Highways and Sewers 8th Div.,” still hangs outside the building.
Inside the building, dim lighting reveals crumbling arched ceilings with ornate exposed beams and chipped paint.
Carole Malakoff, a member of the Allegheny West historical committee, said the building could be repaired and saved. She said the building was rumored to be targeted for demolition by a prospective buyer.
“We thought we ought to hurry up and do something,” Malakoff said. “It’s probably the last stable left in the city, and it can be developed. It’s important to reflect the history of Pittsburgh. People want to live in neighborhoods that have character.”
Bobby Kerlik can be reached at bkerlik@tribweb.com or 412-391-0927.
-
Delmont’s identity is closely associated with landmark
By Bob Cupp
For the Tribune-Review
Friday, January 26, 2007The position of a natural spring often determined the location of a new town; that was the case at Delmont where a spring provided an ample water supply, undoubtedly influencing early settlers in their selection of a home.
Delmont was originally known as Salem Crossroads and, later, New Salem Borough. The name “Salem” was derived from Salem, Mass., after William Wilson arrived from that state and settled here in 1785.Wilson built a log cabin, south of present-day East Pittsburgh Street, near what became known as the Big Spring. Hugh Bigham arrived in the community about 1810 and opened the first store. He also laid the first wooden water line from the spring to a wooden trough just east of what became the center of town, in effect, establishing the community’s first “city” water.
A north-south road from Poke Run Church to Greensburg, eventually known as the Greensburg-Kittanning Pike, was built through the village around 1800. The east-west Northern Turnpike, which later became the William Penn Highway, was completed in 1819, linking Pittsburgh with Philadelphia. The turnpike also passed through Salem Crossroads, bisecting the north-south road at the center of town where Greensburg, Freeport and Pittsburgh streets now intersect.
The crossroads village quickly became a prosperous transportation center. As many as five different stage lines passed through town, carrying a large volume of freight and passengers.
Delmont would not have become a major stagecoach stop without the continuous flow of water provided by the Big Spring that’s never been known to run dry. When the stagecoaches reached Salem Crossroads, the passengers, drivers and horses could always look forward to a cool, refreshing drink of water.
The watering trough was originally known as the running pump because a wooden pump was used to fill the trough. The pump was replaced by a pipe in 1886. The trough is about 100 yards from the spring, which is in the vicinity of present-day Fairview Street on land once owned by Squire Patty.
Of course, the original wooden trough eventually rotted. In its place, a longer wooden one was built. It also rotted and had to be replaced, as did later wooden ones. In 1910, a large concrete trough was built; it was about the same size as the previous wooden one. That first concrete trough lasted until the early 1930s when it was hit by a truck and damaged. It was then replaced by the smaller concrete trough that many present-day Delmont residents fondly recall.
“We drank that water all our lives and, so far, we haven’t died,” Bob Yaley remarked. “In the 1930s, people used to come and fill the trunks of their cars with gallon jugs. Back then, there wasn’t much traffic in town and you could park there without any problem.”
Delmont native Dorothy Cochran Lindsay shared some of her watering trough memories.
“During the 1930s, my dad would take his horses to the watering trough whenever there was a dry spell and the spring on the farm went dry,” Lindsay said. “Later, he and a group of local men would ride their horses through town on Sundays. They would always stop there to water them.
“I drank from the watering trough every day on my way to and from school,” she said. “We never went past the watering trough without stopping for a drink. I can’t recall it ever freezing over — even in the coldest winter.
“We used to sled ride down the Lutheran Hill on East Pittsburgh Street all the time,” Lindsay continued. “The watering trough is at the bottom of the hill. I remember when Paul Frye slid into the corner of the cement trough and got a concussion. My parents didn’t allow me to sled ride down the hill after that incident.”
Don Jobe’s great-grandfather hauled coal and freight with a team of horses and a wagon.
“He used to water his horses there at the trough,” Jobe said. “When I was growing up, everyone used to go down there and wash their cars. I stopped there every day to get a drink of water when I delivered newspapers on Pittsburgh Street.”
Eleanor Jobe Kemerer recalls that “the water ran all the time; it was good and cold. I can remember when people would bring their horses in and water them. Later, they would fill up milk cans and haul them away in their cars.
“When Bob and I got married, we lived in an upstairs apartment in Chal Christy’s house,” Kemerer reflected. “We had no running water at that time and we carried all our water in from the watering trough for drinking, bathing, cooking and washing clothes. We brought it upstairs in buckets and heated it on the stove.”
Alice Ewing Cathey grew up across the street from the watering trough. She recalls her father, Fred Ewing, cleaning the trough.
“I remember coming home from college during the late 1960s and finding him standing there in the rain, smoking his pipe upside down to keep it dry, while using a rake or hoe to remove debris from the bottom of the watering trough; it was a hilarious sight,” Cathey said with a laugh.
Cher Anderson’s most prominent memory of the watering trough is a line of cars along East Pittsburgh Street on Sunday afternoons, waiting their turns to be washed. Of course, in those days, there weren’t any commercial car washes in the area.
Lysle Bash recalls, “When I was young, people filled 10-gallon cans to water their livestock, or to use in their houses. I remember one elderly couple, in particular, who would walk from near the Presbyterian church every day to fill up two water jugs.
“That was the place we always stopped after we played ball,” Bash remarked. “Back when I was still in school, they put a sign on the trough warning people not to drink the water, but I don’t know of anyone who died, or even got sick from drinking it.”
In 1973, the Delmont Lions Club rebuilt the watering trough for the Salem Crossroads Historical Restoration Society. The club’s intent was to restore it to its 1850 wooden construction. The design was based on architect’s sketches and drawings derived from old photographs and descriptions from old-time residents.
The trough is 17.5 feet long and 4 feet wide. A tree couldn’t be located that would be big enough for the entire trough in one piece, so a partition was constructed instead, using steel plates with supporting rods on either end. It was built from white oak obtained from Boswell Lumber Co., and assembled at John Wolfe’s residence. Several Lions Club members assisted with the construction and installation.
Over the years, there have been many unofficial caretakers of the watering trough, including A.S. Machesney and, later, Fred Ewing, while the cement version was still in place. During the 1980s, as part of another restoration project, cut stones from the barn on the nearby Shields Farm were used to provide a solid foundation for the trough.
Currently, Jay Anderson, who lives next door to the watering trough, serves as its caretaker. Anderson most recently refurbished the trough in 2004 with assistance from the borough. He has also preserved a 10-foot section of the original wooden pipe that was used to transport water from the spring to the trough.
In the 1970s, after the watering trough was restored, the Department of Environmental Resources determined that the water quality no longer met state requirements and the trough was disconnected from its water supply. That event was troubling for many old-time residents who wanted to see the water flowing again — just as it always did.
The watering trough is located along the south side of East Pittsburgh Street, 50 yards east of Greensburg and Freeport streets. The first trough was located under a tree near where G.A. McLaughlin’s house and, later, Chal Christy’s house, stood. After the lot was sold to George Reicker, the trough was moved a short distance to its current location.
Although Delmont no longer gets its water from the watering trough, the Big Spring continues to flow into a tributary of Beaver Run, which, in turn, flows into Beaver Run Dam. Since the reservoir supplies water to most of Westmoreland County, indirectly the Big Spring is still quenching the thirst of Delmont residents today.
Delmont just wouldn’t be the same without its watering trough. The old landmark is closely associated with the founding and history of Delmont. Although the horses and water are long gone, the trough remains today, restored and maintained by a community that values its past.
-
Munhall council to consider wider historic district – Residents oppose development plans
Thursday, January 25, 2007
By Jan Ackerman,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteResidents of a historic Munhall neighborhood where early steel industry executives built their homes hope a proposed ordinance will protect the architectural character of the neighborhood from new development.
Munhall council has called a special meeting for 5 p.m. tomorrow to consider that ordinance, requested by residents of Library Estates, the neighborhood near the historic Carnegie Library of Homestead.
The ordinance would expand an existing historic district to include the property where new homes are planned by Mon Valley Initiative, a nonprofit economic development coalition that is known for building “affordable housing” in Rankin, Braddock and Homestead.
But Doug Van Haitsma, housing and real estate director for the coalition, said expansion of an existing historic district should not affect coalition plans to build seven new four bedroom, 2.5 bath homes, which will be priced at $130,000 on the two-plus acres of vacant land between 11th and 12th Avenues, Louise and Andrew Streets.
“MVI believes our development will comply with the historic district and the borough code enforcement staff and council have stated the same,” Mr. Van Haitsma said.
By a 5-2 vote on Jan. 17, Munhall council approved a subdivision plan submitted by the coalition to build the new homes behind the library on a piece of vacant land that formerly was owned by the Homestead Economic Revitalization Corp.
Councilman Bernard Shields said that in approving the plan, council is only approving the subdividing of the property, not the types of homes that will be built there.
“That will come later,” Mr. Shields told residents who attended the meeting.
There’s been much confusion about the historic status of the neighborhood, which surrounds the old library, donated by industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1898.
William Callahan, of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, has been trying to help sort it out for local officials.
At last week’s meeting, he explained that the area was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, a designation that marks properties worthy of historic preservation, but doesn’t protect them.
Some years later, the boroughs of Homestead, Munhall and West Homestead passed a jointly administered historic district ordinance under state Act 167 and created a Steel Valley Historical and Architectural Review Board.
Act 167 gives local municipalities the authority to manage changes to historic assets, Mr. Callahan said.
Last year, the Steel Valley Historic and Architectural Review Board recommended that the land where the new housing is proposed should be added to the existing historic district.
The issue has become a complicated political battle.
Mr. Van Haitsma said that the process of historic approval will take several months, but “borough ordinance does not prohibit us from getting building permits and beginning work before this process is completed,” he said.
Five homes will be sold to families earning up to 115 percent of the area median income and the other two will be sold to families earning up to 80 percent of the area income.
(Jan Ackerman can be reached at jackerman@post-gazette.com or 412-851-1512. )
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette
-
Turtle Creek Mayor to School District: Redistrict; don’t consolidate junior highs
By ADAM R. FORGIE
Mayor, Turtle Creek
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Pittsburgh Post GazetteThis letter is in response to the comments made by Colleen Filiak, of the Woodland Hills school board, who, at the Jan. 10 board meeting, said the students of East Junior High in Turtle Creek were not receiving the same level of education as a student at West Junior High in Swissvale.
As an alumnus of Woodland Hills School District who spent my junior high years at East Junior High, as a social studies teacher of six years at East Junior High, and as the mayor of Turtle Creek, I believe I am highly qualified to voice my opinion and express my disappointment in Mrs. Filiak’s comments.
The children of East Junior High have had and will continue to have an excellent education, which is being taught by a very professional and highly qualified staff. The opportunities and curricula being taught are the same as what is being taught by my outstanding colleagues at West Junior High. If anything, the learning environment at East is much more conducive to learning because it is a smaller and more controllable student body. Consolidating junior highs will create a chaotic atmosphere that will lower PSSA scores and promote a horrible educational atmosphere.
I believe the solution is to redistrict 150 students from West to East. This will lighten the load on both the West staff and the borough of Swissvale and, furthermore, equalize the student populations in both schools. Turtle Creek and its citizens also will get to keep their historic, treasured and beautiful high school operational.
Mrs. Filiak makes me wonder, if I had not gone to East, would I still have ended up just a teacher and mayor? Her comments suggest that if I had gone to West, that I would be a superintendent and our governor.
-
Preservation group offers to mediate
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Pittsburgh Post-GazettePreservation Pittsburgh is urging the state to stop burying Fort Pitt’s historic Music Bastion as part of the $35 million renovation of Point State Park and instead begin talks aimed at preserving public access to the region’s oldest existing structure.
The advocacy group formed to preserve the region’s historic landmarks has offered to mediate a solution between the Fort Pitt Preservation Society, which has offered its own compromise plan to preserve the Music Bastion, and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the River Life Task Force, and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Those agencies support a plan that calls for filling in the moat and burying the bastion to create an expansive lawn for concerts in the park.
“We believe that a solution exists that helps to preserve and interpret the Music Bastion in a meaningful way, and at the same time achieves the goals of River Life Task Force to broaden the use of the space to meet the current and future needs of Downtown, the city and the region,” said Preservation Pittsburgh’s executive director Steven Paul.
Michael Nixon, attorney for the Fort Pitt Preservation Society, welcomed Preservation Pittsburgh’s offer to mediate. “It’s important because it recognizes that a solution is viable,” he said.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette