City Council doesn't save Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Bedford: section 8, living in, store)

[gg]

Originally Posted by Copanut

They should dismantle it and reassemble it out in soulless Cranberry, that would give the place some character.

As much as I would love to see something like that happen, I don't think it could. Not sure though and I think I will email the people that tried to save it. It sure would ease the pain for those of us that wanted to see it used as a unique structure that could open and show off the city skyline. It will never be open again and we will be hearing about it demolition for years over and over again. It is going to suck for those of us that loved the place and realized it was something no one else had. One hockey game with the lid off would have changed everything. Of course the corporate set needed more luxury boxes, so we knew what that meant.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

It is very sad that it couldn't be used for concerts and utilize it the way it was designed by opening it for the people to enjoy something no other city would have. A view of the Pittsburgh skyline while sitting in your seat enjoying a concert.

Apparently the acoustics were terrible, which is why the Civic Light Opera moved out.

Edit: Here is a more detailed account:

http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/...llonArena.html

[T]he retractable roof that was intended to make it a great theater actually made it a terrible theater. The Mellon Arena’s operators knew the roof could not be opened when it rained, and they learned it also could not be opened when the wind blew over seven miles per hour. It was not just weather that haunted the arena’s ability to host the light opera; the open roof caused a nightmare for acoustics and the wind generated a continuous headache by blowing over scenery. The dome provided no place to hang lighting, sets, or amplifiers, and trying to keep an open arena air conditioned proved to be more expensive than predicted.

In short, the retractable roof was a cool idea in theory which didn't work out in practice.

[gg]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Apparently the acoustics were terrible, which is why the Civic Light Opera moved out in 1968.

Acoustics can always be addressed with ease in any building.

I realize there isn't a functional use for the Civic Arena anymore and I except the whole situation, because the old saying, you can't fight city hall is true, but I had to vent a little. Just one hockey game with that roof open would have been so special and my pride would have been higher than ever. The world would have seen that building open and the skyline view. It would have been amazing, but it will never happen. My friends from NYC and other big places would have said something like, wow that building is really cool. Most don't even know what the place was all about. Most just think it is just a dome. Now it is rubble.

On another not, I did email about the Civic Arena and asked if it could be rebuilt somewhere. I suspect not, but figured I would ask anyway.

[SteelCityRising]

h_curtis, I admire your perseverance and your determination to see one of your favorite city landmarks salvaged; however, if the options were...

Plan A: Preserve the Civic Arena, which would then be grossly underutilized. Stage AE, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, various Cultural District venues, and Consol Energy Center fill most of the usages the Civic Arena ever could have dreamt of.

Plan B: Tear down the Civic Arena and develop a new "bridge" neighborhood to help repair the gap between the Hill District and Downtown in hopes of spreading Downtown's vitality (and influence) deeper into the Hill, helping to bolster its recovery.

...then I was an ardent supporter of Plan B.

The preservationists have only themselves to blame. They kept harping on about all of these "super rad awesome" things they had in the pipeline for the reuse of the structure but always kept mum and said "everything's confidential" when pressed. Maybe the Civic Arena could have been preserved if Pittsburgh landed an NBA franchise, but given the fact that the city is continuing to lose population and already has a strong college basketball following at the local level (Pitt) I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. I was thinking "Arena Football" as a viable alternative, but the Pittsburgh Power is already enjoying its new digs.

IF the preservationists were serious about saving the building, then they had YEARS to line up someone to reuse the property. They failed, obviously.

[gg]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

h_curtis, I admire your perseverance and your determination to see one of your favorite city landmarks salvaged; however, if the options were...

This whole thing was over when they built the consol energy center. Yes, I don't capitalize it because that company is one huge polluter! Anyway, as soon as they decided no to renovate the Civic Arena, I knew it would be gone in no time. I am just sad it wasn't used the way it was intended, but if it doesn't have enough luxury boxes, those are the people that control everything, so you know it is going to go their way no matter what. No open air hockey game for the Arena. Bye, bye.

[BrianTH]

Of course as I pointed out before, after it was first built they tried to use the Arena as originally intended, and it didn't work the way they had hoped.

Sometimes things look good on paper (or in one's imagination), but don't work in real life.

[hnsq]

I can't say how happy I am that it will be torn down. New development is drastically needed downtown instead of preserving buildings that are not economically viable does nothing but hurt the city, regardless of the emotional connection people may have to it.

[gg]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Of course as I pointed out before, after it was first built they tried to use the Arena as originally intended, and it didn't work the way they had hoped.

Sometimes things look good on paper (or in one's imagination), but don't work in real life.

I don't buy that Brian. It didn't work because the powerful people don't want it to. This stuff is all smoke and mirrors. I have been around commercial real estate a long time and this Civic Arena thing is something I have seen on small scales all the time. It is almost like there is a playbook they follow and it works every single time. I never got into being an activist against the power people, because it is a lost cause. You can't beat them unless you yourself are a powerful person. Someone like a Mark Cuban can stop things, but the average joe is powerless. I wasn't posting on this forum when they built the consol center, but as soon as they weren't going to renovate the Civic Arena, I knew it was over. They may pretend to use it for a little to calm some people down and play the games that are needed to make it look good, but that stuff is done in most every case like this. Just give the protesters enough to calm them and let them think, we tried to save it. lol Too funny.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by hnsq

I can't say how happy I am that it will be torn down. New development is drastically needed downtown instead of preserving buildings that are not economically viable does nothing but hurt the city, regardless of the emotional connection people may have to it.

That's pretty much my feeling. I think the building is interesting in an abstract sense, but it didn't work well, now has no purpose anyway, and is a huge impediment to developing the Lower Hill the way it should be developed.

That said, it would have been cool to save a section or two as an improvised memorial.

[hnsq]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That's pretty much my feeling. I think the building is interesting in an abstract sense, but it didn't work well, now has no purpose anyway, and is a huge impediment to developing the Lower Hill the way it should be developed.

That said, it would have been cool to save a section or two as an improvised memorial.

I agree...developing that land will go a long way towards improving the hill as a whole. An end goal in my mind is to revitalize the entire area between downtown and Oakland. Developing the land on which the Arena sits is a first step towards that goal.