Focus on Mellon Square: Platform for an Architectural Panorama

Friday, May 8
10:00 a.m. to Noon

$25 per person
This tour is limited to 20 participants.

Purchase a ticket below. Tickets will not be available after 11:30 p.m. on May 7.

Mellon Square has been an oasis in the thrum of Downtown Pittsburgh ever since it opened in 1955. A modernist public space, built atop a public parking garage, the site of the park was donated to the City of Pittsburgh by the Mellon Family in 1949. It was an idea inspired by the impression Union Square in San Francisco had made on the financier and philanthropist Richard King Mellon on a visit in California.

The site, a one-acre surface park donated to the city, along with $4.3 million from three Mellon Family foundations for the project, was the first in America to intentionally combine a park with a parking garage. The innovative structure and the choice of well-known contemporary architects and landscape designers to create it were meant to show that Pittsburgh was ready to face its postwar challenges with creativity and stylishness.

Mellon Square has become an icon of Modern design, and a comprehensive restoration in the 2010s renewed it for its next chapters. More than just a park, however, Mellon Square is a fantastic stage from which to see numerous exemplars of Downtown’s great architectural heritage.

Our Focus on Mellon Square will take you on an insightful exploration of some of the most distinctive landmarks of Downtown without ever leaving the Square!

Tour meeting point:  Entrance to the Square at the northwest corner of William Penn Way and Oliver Avenue, diagonally across from the Union Trust Building

Please arrive 15 minutes before start time in order to ensure that the tour gets underway on time.

Accessibility: This tour is accessible to people with disabilities.

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All tour participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Children under the age of 13 may attend tours free of charge. By purchasing a ticket for this tour, you acknowledge that you are physically able to undertake the tour, assume all personal risk during the tour, consent to being photographed during the tour, and permit PHLF to use your image in our communications.  

All ticket sales are final.