Category Archive: Threatened Historic Resources
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State agency to begin survey of region’s historic farms
By Don Hopey,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday, November 23, 2006Dozens of historic buildings and farms have fallen through the cracks in the southwestern Pennsylvania coalfields, but a planned survey may help the state produce a much-needed safety net.
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has received a $75,000 federal grant from Preserve America to conduct a two-year survey of more than 2,800 farms and other properties in Washington and Greene counties.
While some historic buildings, like the Ernest Thralls House near Spraggs in Greene County, have been damaged by longwall mine subsidence because the state did little to save them, others have been lost because not even the agencies that are supposed to protect them knew they were there, tucked along the back roads in the rolling hills of the mostly rural counties.
Carol Lee, the commission’s National Register of Historic Places coordinator, said the state’s official history agency is limited by staffing and funding, and doesn’t know how many historic properties have been damaged by longwall mining or even how many listed or eligible properties still exist.
“We have listed and eligible historic properties in each county, but we would have to survey or get reports from local groups to know what is happening to them,” Ms. Lee said.
That lack of information can be a problem because the commission is supposed to provide the state Department of Environmental Protection, which issues mining permits, with pre-mining advisory opinions about whether subsidence caused by longwall operations will damage those properties.
The commission lists 92 properties in Washington County on the National Register of Historic Places and another 197 sites eligible for listing, and 41 properties in Greene County, with another 23 judged eligible. But some historians say there are many more.
The commission will plan the historical farm survey this winter and begin field survey work next spring.
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Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. Keynote Address at the 2006 National Preservation Conference
PHLF News
October 31, 2006“Preservation In Pittsburgh” Keynote address of Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. at the 2006 National Preservation Conference held in Pittsburgh, PA, October 31, 2006
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Plans for Walgreens store get council’s OK
Staff and wire reports
Thursday, October 26, 2006Pittsburgh City Council unanimously approved plans Wednesday for a controversial Walgreens drug store in Point Breeze.
Construction could begin as early as April, once the city Planning Department approves a site plan.Neighbors of the proposed 14,550-square-foot store at the corner of Penn and Braddock avenues for months have objected to Paradise Development Group’s plan to raze three Victorian houses to make way for a two-lane drive-through window attached to the store.
In a compromise reached in September and OK’d yesterday, Paradise agreed to knock down only one home, which Paradise will purchase.
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Woodland Hills gathers data on school closings
By Karen Zapf
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 13, 2006A member of the Woodland Hills School Board said Thursday he understands the rationale for taking a look at closing three schools in the district by 2009.
Still, board member Fred Kuhn said he wants to look at all options before deciding whether to close Shaffer Primary in Churchill, Rankin Intermediate in Rankin and East Junior High School in Turtle Creek.“They’re on the table for discussion,” Kuhn said. “But they may all be taken off the table. It (the study) is in the beginning stages. I want to get more information.”
Kuhn said Shaffer, Rankin and East Junior High have declining enrollment.
District enrollment has dropped 3.2 percent over the last four years and total enrollment is projected to be at 5,100 in 2009, Kuhn said. About a decade ago, the district had about 6,000 students.
The reasons for the declining enrollment, Kuhn said, include lower birth rates, people moving because of tax rates, and other educational options, such as private schools and Propel East in Turtle Creek, a tuition-free, independent public school.The district needs a long-term financial plan in part because the teachers’ contract expires in June. The tax rate in the Woodland Hills School District is 23.9 mills.
Deborah Pike, Shaffer Primary Parent Teacher Organization president, said she wants more information from the district about the proposal.
Pike, of Churchill, said enrollment declined from 365 several years ago to 320 this year. Shaffer houses pupils in kindergarten through third grade. It’s a “decent-sized school,” she said. “It’s not like our halls are empty.”
Pike said it would be challenging to move the students at Shaffer to the other district schools because parking is limited at Edgewood Primary, and Wilkins Primary might not have space for more children.
Karen Zapf can be reached at kzapf@tribweb.com or (412) 380-8522.
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Developer bids on 10 church properties
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 13, 2006The Follieri Group, a Manhattan-based developer, bid on 10 church properties in the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, in what could be its biggest sale in decades, diocesan officials announced Thursday.
“We have received sales agreements on 10 church properties,” said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese. “Those parishes are being consulted.”Lengwin declined to divulge the locations of the properties, vacancy status, or the amount of the offer.
“We could be talking about churches,” he said. “We could be talking about convents. We could be talking about schools.”
If the deal goes through, Lengwin said, it would be the largest purchase in the diocese by a single buyer of church property during his 25 years. He said he does not know how many vacant buildings are in the 214 parishes in Allegheny, Washington, Greene, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties.
“There is no timetable,” he said. “It’s something we’d like to do as soon as possible.”
Marcy Simon, head of communications for the Follieri Group, said the firm has submitted bids on area properties, although she did not identify which.
“We’ve not closed on any properties, we have not owned any properties yet,” she said last night.
She said the company was built on the teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and in developing properties, the company’s model is “to always give back to the communities we acquire properties in” and “look to the local resources that are available in the community to work on the development projects.”
Lengwin previously said Follieri was interested in buying St. Nicholas Church on Route 28 in the North Side. He would not say yesterday whether it is among the 10 properties.
Follieri’s earlier interest in St. Nicholas angered the Croatian American Cultural and Economic Alliance, which thought it was close to a $250,000 deal with the diocese for the church, rectory, garages, a parking lot and contents. The alliance planned to spend more than $1 million to convert the church — home to the first Croatian parish in America — into a historical center and shrine.
“I’m certainly disappointed, because we put a lot of work and effort in this,” said Dr. Marion Vujevich, alliance chairman. “We got the short end of the stick.”
Susan Petrick, secretary of the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation, also is disappointed.
“If the diocese’s true intention is to make it into a shrine, they should not consider offers from people who do not have the same intention,” she said. “I doubt that Follieri has any intention of making it into a shrine.”
PennDOT considered razing the 105-year-old church for a $130 million road-widening project, but spared it when the alliance and other groups secured a historic designation from the city.
Drawings by Astorino architects call for developing a park or Croatian village near the church, plans that would fall through if Follieri buys the church, Vujevich said.
But, said Lengwin, “We are always looking at that situation to see how we can resolve it.”
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7828.
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New Granada Theatre could turn a corner
C. Denise Johnson
New Pittsburgh Courier Staff Writer
October 5, 2006View all articles by C. Denise Johnson
Grop plans to bring new life to once prominent site
A single glance conjures images to bygone days of women dressed to the nines and their Jim Dandies. For some it brings backs days of daylong movie matinees. For others still, the New Granada is a constant reminder of dreams deferred.Much of recent Hill District memories evolve around loss: loss of a once-thriving neighborhood based business district and a community on the verge of prosperity. Then came urban renewal.
All of the advantages that justified the construction of the civic arena missed the Hill. Aspirations of improvement and/or expansion became as frozen as the Penguin’s playing surface; for years the Hill has been stuck in time.
The promise of rebirth springs eternal and such is the case for the New Granada.
Two years ago, the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh cited the deserted venue as one of its “Top Ten Best Preservation Opportunities, which lead to Pittsburgh City Council designated the site as a local historical landmark.
Plans are afoot to secure a national designation, says Marimba Milliones of the Hill Community Redevelopment Corp.
“The New Granada is on the itinerary for the National Trust when they hold their conference in Pittsburgh next month,” Milliones said.
In the interim a collaborative of concerned community residents along with the HCRC, YPF, artists, and architecture gather for the specific purpose of bringing new life to the prominent eyesore.
It is a painstaking process that involves structural analysis, feasibility studies and visioning groups made up of the immediate stakeholders—Hill District residents.
“The New Granada is a community icon, and we must be very deliberate in how we proceed,” said Milliones.
In the interim, there have been several efforts to spur development, said former City Councilman Sala Udin.
“There was a committee set up by the mayor’s office during Tom Murphy’s administration,” said Udin, who represented the Hill on council. “The police chief also was a part of that group.”
Part of the reason for the slower re-birth of the New Granada is the ongoing open-air drug activity along that block of Centre Avenue.
“That’s the fly in the ointment, offered Udin.
“It was acknowledged that one of the ways to promote invest and redevelopment on the Hill is to eradicate the drug trafficking. I know there was one meeting, but I’m not aware of any subsequent meetings or outcomes, Udin commented.Evan Frazier agrees. As the Executive Director of the Hill House, Frazier is keenly cognizant of the structure’s significance to the Hill.
“The New Granada is part of the Hill’s signature, so it’s important that the legacy be preserved,” observed Frazier. “Community should be flexible to make sure whatever is decided on is sustainable and attractive to investors. It should be developed to add value to the community and the region.”
Future options for the building are many and because of its size, Milliones says it could be a multi-purpose facility that could eventually become the hub of a revitalized Centre Avenue corridor.
Designed 1927 by local architect Louis Bellinger—one of the few Black architects in the country and constructed in 1928, the building was as a base for the local chapter of the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal group of Black construction workers. The structure also offered commercial and office space.
Ten years later the facility was converted in to a commercial theater by it’s then owner, Harry Hendel, who renamed the facility in light of the demise of another business venture, the original Granada situated two blocks away on Centre Avenue.
The New Granada also housed the Savoy Ballroom (a former auditorium) which opened in 1941, hosting such luminaries as Stanley Turrentine, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few and developed a storied history as evidence by this Courier account:
“In January 1932, the Pythian Temple hosted the largest crowd in its history when the Pittsburgh Courier, the nation’s pre-eminent African-American newspaper, crowned Duke Ellington the “King of Jazz” in a concert and presentation broadcast nationally over radio station WCAE. This event shattered previous attendance records of any such event in the city and to date has never been equaled. Nearly 3,000 patrons from as far as New York City, including his mother, wife, sister and son, watched as Ellington was presented with the Courier’s “Loving Cup.” Ellington’s mother later expressed her gratitude for the event and her son’s honor to the Courier in a letter to the editor. The people of the Hill District still refer to the event as the crowning of the “King of Jazz,” and “…second to none in the annals of time of the Hill District.”
According to Milliones, the theatre’s immediate future includes a feasibility study.
“Considering how long it’s been vacant, it’s in relatively good condition aside from the need of a new roof,” she said. “We also exploring the possibility of it becoming an energy efficient, environmentally-friendly “green building.”
Funding is another challenge and is part of the reasoning for the New Granada’s inclusion on the National Trust’s radar. “A lot of the preliminary work is technical in nature, which means the need for funding.”
Members of the New Granada Theatre Committee, which Milliones co-chairs, include Robert Neu of the Kelly-Strayhorn, Hill resident and entrepreneur Williams Benton, attorney William Bercik, Cathy McCollum of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks and Chloe Velasquez of YPAP.
Milliones sees potential for a multipurpose facility based on the size of the structure.
“It’s a phenomenal building!” Milliones exclaimed.
“It represents a tremendous opportunity to add momentum to the ongoing development along the Centre Avenue corridor,” added Frazier.
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Carnegie Library lands lot for $1
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, September 15, 2006The Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday agreed to give the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh a vacant lot on the North Side to build a replacement for the library branch that was heavily damaged by a lightning strike in early April.
The development agency’s board voted unanimously to transfer a 16,500-square-foot lot at 1210 Federal St. to the library for $1, despite complaints by half a dozen people who believe the old Allegheny Regional branch at 5 Allegheny Square on the North Side should remain a library once repairs to the building are made.“Some decisions have to go past the business sense and must take into consideration historical importance, heritage and the importance to the community,” said Stephen Pietzak, of the South Side.
A lightning bolt that struck the clock tower of the old building, built in 1890, hurled chunks of granite through sections of the building’s roof, causing an estimated $2 million in damage.
Repairs to the historic building, which is owned by the City of Pittsburgh, will be covered by insurance. The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has agreed to work with the city to find another use for the building.
Library officials believe the building — the first of the public libraries built by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie — no longer fits the vision of what a contemporary library should be, said Barbara Mistick, executive director of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
“In addition to being expensive to operate, it is not very open and inviting, which is especially important for children,” Mistick said. “And it is difficult to add the technology that has become vital to the services we provide.”
The building also is not fully accessible to people with physical disabilities, she said.
Increasingly, Carnegie officials have placed a higher priority on whether a library is conveniently located on public transportation lines and is able to provide the amenities patrons have come to expect, over the historic value of the structure.
Mistick said a time frame and cost of construction for the new library have yet to be determined.
In addition to approving the property transfer, the redevelopment authority board voted to apply to the state for $7.5 million in redevelopment grants on behalf of the Carnegie Library, which is in the midst of a $55 million capital campaign to renovate its branches.
The library has raised about $32.5 million. Six of its 19 branches have either been moved to newer buildings or renovated.
Tony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7987.
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Bridges for sale — really
By staff and wire reports
Thursday, September 14, 2006Con artists have tried to sell the Brooklyn Bridge for years, but now two bridges in Pennsylvania really are for sale. First, PennDOT wants to sell the West Hickory Bridge on State Route 0127 over the Allegheny River in Hickory, Forest County. The bridge, 695 feet long and 16 feet wide, was built in 1896 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interested? Call 1-814-678-7008. Also, Nyleve Bridge Corp. wants to sell its 467-foot-long temporary structure that once took the Norfolk Southern Railroad across State Route 309, near the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Fort Washington Exit, Montgomery County. The steel bridge is being replaced by a permanent bridge. Call 1-610-965-3083 for details.