Category Archive: Threatened Historic Resources
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Mellon Arena’s future still in limbo
By Stephanie Franken
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 10, 2002Even as the public sounds off over the proposal to preserve Mellon Arena as a historic landmark, the question of what to do with it remains unanswered.
And those involved with plans for a new Penguins arena doubt there is room enough in Pittsburgh for two.The Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh today will hear public testimony about whether 41-year-old Mellon Arena has sufficient historic and architectural value to receive historic landmark status.
The proposal for a new $225 million arena and surrounding development Uptown calls for demolishing Mellon Arena, but a “City Designated Historic Structure” status would block or at least slow demolition plans. Today’s public hearings at 200 Ross St., Downtown, begin at 1 p.m. and comments about Mellon Arena will be heard beginning at 2:50 p.m.
Last month, the commission voted 4-0 to begin the process of determining whether the arena should receive historic status.
Today is the first step in a two-part process that will lead to a final vote on Aug. 7 to either approve or deny the historic designation, commission Chairman John DeSantis said. Ultimately, Pittsburgh City Council would vote to make the designation official after the Historic Review Commission puts forth a recommendation.
“The city’s going to be looking for the highest and best use for the land,” said Paul Anderson, a Marquette University law professor and associate director of the National Sports Law Institute.
The owner of Mellon Arena, the Sports & Exhibition Authority, already has made its position on Mellon Arena clear. It is working on a financing plan for a new Penguins arena — and those plans do not include the old arena, SEA spokesman Greg Yesko said.
“It was a marvel when it first opened. No one wants to downplay that,” Yesko said. But if the structure is allowed to stand after a new arena is completed, the SEA would bear the burden of owning and operating both facilities, he said.
“The overlap in the cost would be prohibitive. The cost of maintaining an obsolete facility with limited use is not a logical decision.”
In a handful of other North American cities, older hockey arenas that weren’t razed have continued to exist as spaces for entertainment and sports events. According to the National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School, old hockey arenas in Calgary, Montreal , Philadelphia, Toronto and San Jose continue to be used for civic, social and athletic events.
In Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, New York City and St. Louis, older hockey arenas were demolished.
In Buffalo and in Washington, D.C., old arenas that weren’t demolished now stand vacant, according a Marquette report.
The SEA “doesn’t have a timeline, necessarily,” for a new arena, said Yesko, adding that the hockey team has a lease for the existing arena until 2006. But once construction of a new facility gets under way, he said, the old one should go.
Ken Sawyer, president of the Lemieux Group LP, said the Penguins view the historic designation of Mellon Arena as a separate matter from the team’s plans to build a new arena. “It’s definitely up to the public to determine the fate of the old arena,” he said.
Nevertheless, the Pens’ proposal to add housing, retail and office space near the new arena requires demolition of the old one.
“The only issue is that we do not believe the old arena should be used for events that could be held in that new arena,” Sawyer said.
In addition to hosting hockey games, a new arena would serve as a venue for events such as concerts — and it would be used for major events 140 to 150 days per year, Sawyer said.
Mellon Arena currently hosts hockey games, concerts and other major events an average of 130 days per year, give or take 10 to 15 days, said Doug Hall, general manager for SMG at Mellon Arena. In addition, there might be several smaller events taking place on any given day at the arena, he said.
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Association, along with Preservation Pittsburgh, nominated Mellon Arena for historic designation in May.
History & Landmarks spokeswoman Cathy McCollom said her organization thinks Mellon Arena is an important building and should be saved but isn’t adamant. By nominating the site for historic status, it simply provides an opportunity for the public to weigh all possible uses for the structure — and choose the best one.
“While the nomination is in place, right now, the building cannot be demolished,” she said. But the Historic Review Commission could grant a demolition permit even after historic status has been granted.
Historic status only protects the exterior of a building. It would not prevent substantial changes to the inside of Mellon Arena.
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Civic Arena Update
Civic Arena
May 11, 2002, Preserving, Improving Pittsburgh with Art Ziegler (Interview)
The building is an extraordinary example of early modern design in the world. It remains a unique building, and we believe that it should not be cast aside until studies are done to see if any feasible adaptive use can be developed for it.We recognize the difficulty of reusing the building, but we have already proposed using it as a possible downtown stop for the proposed Mag-Lev. We think it might be a great African-American center of jazz and products and restaurants.
Our concern was prompted by the Penguins’ plan by UDA Architects that showed the building demolished and replaced with buildings and housing. We don’t know what the market support is for that plan, but we were concerned that they did not consider the possibility of reuse.
So what we are recommending is that studies be undertaken of the possible reuse of the Civic Arena and all the surrounding open land. There is a magnificent opportunity there for our city and we would like to see the area be utilized to its optimum and that the downtown and the Hill District be reunited through that development.
We are also advocating an open process lead by Hill District residents and business people so all interested parties can participate.
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Plan C: More weasel words
Thursday, April 4, 2002
Call it Tom Murphy’s big “but.”
The mayor of Pittsburgh went before the scriveners, microphones and cameras Tuesday in his first extended comments on the Plan C Task Force’s blueprint to redevelopment the Fifth-Forbes corridor.Within a month, at least one private developer is expected to be hired to begin work on the $363 million Downtown rehabilitation plan; others will follow. The Urban Redevelopment Authority has been told to expand its grants for facade improvements. Building inspectors have a new charge to make sure that buildings are up to code.
That’s all well and good. But then there’s Mr. Murphy’s big “but” – eminent domain.
“We have not authorized eminent domain,” he said. “So when we approach a building owner now, we will be negotiating with them amicably in attempting to come to a fair price without the threat of eminent domain there. We are ruling it out right now, but (emphasis ours) I can’t speak for the future.”
Oh, what weasel words!
Here’s the translation: We’ll play nice – for now. But if property owners don’t like our price, or if they don’t want to sell – POW! It’s called the cudgel of eminent domain, and the mayor obviously still considers it his trump card.
Tom Murphy once forswore the use of eminent domain in any Market Place progeny. He reneged. Now he offers up some weaselly verbiage that should make every independent property owner in the Fifth-Forbes corridor do one thing and one thing alone:
Hire an attorney.
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Study reveals history of Route 28-Archaeologists to report findings to PennDOT
11/12/2001
By Brandon Keat
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
When archaeologists are in the field, some days they find gems, and some days just stones.
But even when the artifacts they unearth are not especially valuable, each excavation adds layers of information to the historical record.
The initial archaeological investigation of the Route 28 corridor recently was completed, and the firms that did the digging have prepared a report on what they found on and under that patch of ground.
The report will be analyzed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Harrisburg and be used to determine the path of the road’s expansion and to decide which portions of the corridor – if any – need to be further excavated or documented.
The archaeological study of the corridor from the Heinz plant on the North Side to the 40th Street Bridge at Millvale was done by the engineering firm Michael Baker Jr. Inc. and by the urban archaeologist firm Christine Davis Associates.
From spring to fall of 2001, they studied historical records to learn about the area and dug excavation pits.
Christine Davis said her company dug 15 “backhoe trenches” about 13 feet deep.
“You don’t know what you’re going to find,” Davis said. “There’s many, many times that there’s nothing found.”
When her firm excavated the site of PNC Park, workers found a wealth of valuable artifacts, but the Heinz Field site right next door yielded almost nothing of interest.
David Anderson, an archaeologist for Michael Baker, said, “We really didn’t find all that much (in the Route 28 corridor).”
He said this is partly because the site has been so disrupted over the past 100 years.
What they did find, either through excavations or research about existing structures, are buildings and artifacts related to a former Millvale brewery, the Croation enclave that was centered around St. Nicholas Church along Route 28 and an older, mostly Irish, community called Duquesne Borough.
David Anthony, historical structures specialist for PennDOT, said other noteworthy structures on the site are the former American Brewing Co., which is located in what now is the Millvale Industrial Park.
Baker’s excavations revealed a large subterranean brewery vault.
Built in 1866, the building operated as part of the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. after Prohibition before becoming a meat-packing plant from 1930 to 1961.
The site currently houses a wide array of businesses, from an artist’s studio to a fence company.
On the other side of Route 28, the pre-Civil War hamlet of Duquesne was well situated, with access to the Allegheny River, the Pennsylvania Canal and the Pittsburgh and Butler Turnpike – what would become East Ohio Street and then Route 28.
The remains of Thomas Carlin’s foundry and coke ovens, which operated from 1890 to 1915, also were discovered by the archaeologists.
The town also became an important railroad interchange.
“You had a major transition from this little riverside village to this major (railroad) round house and foundry,” Davis said.
“It was one of those communities that started as a small village, then became an industrial area and then was wiped out by construction (of the current Route 28 and by railroad expansion). ”
The study also identified buildings associated with the area’s Croatian community, including St. Nicholas Church and the Marohnic Book Store, founded in 1893 to sell religious literature written in Croatian.
Anthony said the archaeological and historical report prepared by Davis has been sent to the Federal Highway Administration, which will in turn pass it on to the state museum commission.
He said the reports will be made public by the end of this year.
At that time, the public and interested organizations such as the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, the Preserve Croatian Heritage Society, Preservation Pittsburgh and the national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will get to weigh in on the plan.
Those groups, along with PennDOT, the museum commission and the highway administration will decide on a mitigation plan – what will be done to preserve the historical resources in the path of construction.
“Most of the time, we’re on the same page,” said Pat Remy, PennDOT environmental manager for District 11, which includes Allegheny County.
Sometimes, roadways are rerouted to avoid destroying historic resources.
More typically, structures to be razed are documented with drawings and photographs, and artifacts are removed and given to museums or other interested parties.
“In a case like Route 28, there may not be any other alternative than to build it where it is,” Remy said. “It may not be the best alternative. It may be the only alternative.”
Remy said archaeological excavation of government construction sites began after the federal National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 was passed.
Other protection laws followed, and their effect came into play in PennDOT projects beginning in the 1980s.
“People are surprised what we have to look at to get a new bridge or road,” Remy said.
“There are laws protecting all cultural resources at a state and federal level, and even a local level, so we have to assess that on all our projects.”
Davis said PennDOT seems to take the laws seriously.
“PennDOT does a good job about coming in early and getting it done,” Davis said. “They do a really good job when it comes to cultural resources.”
Davis said that even if the Route 28 excavations did not reveal anything of major significance, valuable information still was gleaned through the study.
“It’s this little part of history that’s gone and through this work can be brought to life again,” she said. “It’s one little piece of history that’s been lost and now we can have it back again.”
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review
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Wrecking ball ends quest to preserve historic house – Fast-food restaurant slated for construction on site
09/28/2001
By Daniel Reynolds TRIBUNE-REVIEW
The Wilkinsburg house where one of the pioneers of commercial radio did his earliest work was demolished Thursday, despite efforts by preservationists to save the structure.
“I feel like we failed,” said Rick Harris, treasurer of the National Museum of Broadcasting, a Forest Hills group that tried for years to convince government officials and foundations to give them the money to save the building.
Harris and his group are still trying to establish a museum commemorating Frank Conrad, the Westinghouse engineer and former Wilkinsburg resident whose engineering team sent the first shortwave radio broadcasts around the world.
But yesterday, Harris said he could only stand, watch, and snap a few photos as the house Conrad did some of his early work in was demolished.
“I think years from now people will look back and say ‘It’s just a shame that they couldn’t save it. What was wrong with people back then in the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000 that they couldn’t have gotten a few hundred thousand together to buy it and restore it?'” Harris said.
Cathy McCollom, director of operations for the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, has said her organization spent significant amounts of time working with Harris’ organization.
She said the group never could find a way to preserve the house Conrad rented in a way that would be financially feasible.
Contractors for the Wendy’s Corp. began tearing down the house at 577 Penn Ave. down yesterday afternoon.
The house that Conrad rented from approximately the mid-1910s to the early 1930s was sold to Wendy’s in August by Elks Lodge No. 577, which has since moved to Wilkins Township.
Wendy’s plans to build a new restaurant on the site. Harris said the restaurant chain has given him permission to gather remnants of the brick structure after demolition to include in a museum or some other fitting display.
Harris said the beginnings of commercial radio took place in the house’s garage and music room, where Conrad assembled groups of musicians and narrators for early radio broadcasts throughout the Pittsburgh area.
Conrad’s experiments evolved into local broadcasting stalwart KDKA, the first commercial radio station in the world.
Later on, Conrad led a Westinghouse team that broadcast the first world-wide short wave radio broadcasts from a lab in Forest Hills.
Forest Hills officials are negotiating with Harris’ group to determine whether a museum can be established in Forest Hills dedicated to Conrad’s work.
The National Museum of Broadcasting was able to salvage the Wilkinsburg garage of the home that Conrad rented. The bricks from that garage are stored on pallets in a warehouse owned by the Thomas Rigging Co. at Keystone Commons in Turtle Creek.
Harris’ group hopes to rebuild the garage as part of the museum, but Forest Hills officials have not yet announced where in the borough that might be able to occur.
In January, the Forest Hills site of Conrad’s early work was designated as historically significant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. © Tribune Review
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Help Protect Historic Places in Your Community: Historic Schools
Public Service Announcement
Help Protect Historic Places in Your Community: Historic Schools
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Save The Historic Mellon Bank Building
PHLF PSA advocating the preservation of the historic Mellon Bank building. Ultimately, the lobby was destroyed and the “new” Lord & Taylor went out of business a few years later.
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Rebuilding needs input, not secrecy
Wednesday, October 06, 1999
By Sally Kalson
Pittsburgh Post GazetteThere’s never been any question that something must be done about Pittsburgh’s Forbes-Fifth corridor, a grim expanse with too many indications of a center-city in decline.
But now we’re seeing what happens when the plan for “something” is hatched in secret, by a few people, with no input from those most directly affected, and without consulting any of the myriad local experts who could have helped shape the project and build community support.
Without that kind of participation, Mayor Murphy’s newly unveiled plan for Market Place at Fifth and Forbes feels like it’s being done more TO us than WITH us. And that’s a shame.
I, for one, would love to get behind a major Downtown revitalization project. But as it stands, this one gives me the willies.
It feels out of balance, both too much and not enough — too much demolition, not enough preservation; too much commercial development, not enough residential (none, actually); too much emphasis on national chains, not enough on retaining homegrown business; too much telling how it’s GOING to be, not enough conferring on how it OUGHT to be.
The plan has its merits, to be sure. Of the $480.5 million package, about 89 percent will come from the private developer, Urban Retail Properties of Chicago, and the prospective tenants. The buildings are to be in scale with Downtown’s current proportions, and all the stores are to have street entrances instead of inward-facing, mall-type corridors.
But — and this is a very big but — the plan calls for the city to acquire 64 buildings and demolish 62 of them. Only 10 facades are to be saved and incorporated into the new designs.
That’s not revitalization; it’s clear-cutting. And even if the new buildings that take their place are nicely designed, will there be anything distinct about them? Anything that says Pittsburgh, as opposed to Cleveland, Denver, Atlanta or Fort Worth?
How many structures that are worth saving could have been kept in the picture if Murphy and his point man on the project, Deputy Mayor Tom Cox, had invited Pittsburgh History and Landmarks and Preservation Pittsburgh into the process, instead of holding them off?
Having been excluded, they’re now working on alternative plans of their own. How much time, energy and expense could have been saved if they’d all worked together from the get-go?
And how many Downtown business owners could have been won over, fired up or, at the very least, assuaged if the mayor’s office had found a way to include them? Now they’re angry as hornets, vowing to dig in and hold out, threatening lawsuits.
It was all so predictable, and so unnecessary. Sure, some opposition is inevitable in a project of this scale. All the more reason to accept the help of potential allies when it’s offered instead of shutting them out.
Arthur Ziegler of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks summed it up, saying he was “most disappointed that the city has ignored all those people and organizations that want to help. There was an opportunity here to encourage terrific local community energy and commitment through broad participation.”
This, I think, is one of the most unfortunate characteristics of Murphy’s tenure. I believe he loves this city and cares deeply about its future. If only he could recognize that other people do, too.
Sally Kalson’s e-mail is:skalson@post-gazette.com