Murphy to seek funds for building repair
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Murphy administration will submit legislation to City Council today to accept a no-interest loan of up to $75,000 from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to make repairs to a dilapidated city-owned building at 439 Market St., Downtown.
Foundation officials offered to lend the money to replace the roof and clean up the building after the adjacent property owners threatened to go to court to force the city to demolish or shore up the building, fearing that it could collapse. They’ve also complained about rats in the building and in Market Square in general.
The foundation originally offered a loan of up to $33,000. Adjacent property owners said it probably would take more than that to replace the roof and shore up the structure.
Under the legislation submitted to council, the loan will run for up to three years. In exchange, the city would grant a historic preservation easement that would protect the front facade of the building. Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation was acting on behalf of Preservation Pittsburgh, which has an interest in preserving 439 Market and two adjacent Urban Redevelopment Authority-owned buildings at Market and Fifth Avenue.
Copyright ©1997-2005 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette