Garden Theatre on North Side heads toward landmark status

By The Tribune-Review
Thursday, November 8, 2007

The Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to designate the Garden Theatre in the North Side a historic landmark.

The designation now must go before the city planning commission for a vote. If approved, City Council will conduct a public hearing and then vote on whether the designation should receive final approval.

A historic designation would require developers to preserve the 92-year-old building’s beaux arts terra cotta exterior. Historic status does not regulate what can be done to the interior.

The theater showed X-rated films from the 1970s until the city bought and closed it earlier this year. The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is reviewing proposals from several developers on how to utilize the theater.