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Old 05-09-2011, 05:04 PM
 
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No clue, but they sure destroyed the building's character with that addition. Yuck!
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Old 05-09-2011, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugo View Post
Someone will probably answer this right off the bat, but oh well.

Challenge #6:




What is the big building in the pictures?

(Extra credit if you can find an actual photo. I could not. )

That's the Westinghouse Building formerly at 9th St. and Penn Ave.
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Old 05-09-2011, 07:24 PM
 
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Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam View Post
That's the Westinghouse Building formerly at 9th St. and Penn Ave.
Correctamundo!

"George Westinghouse (1846-1914) the great American inventor, manufacturer, and eventual president of thirty corporations, including the Westinghouse Electric Company, sponsored the erection of this skyscraper. His namesake, the Westinghouse Electric Company, was founded in 1886, only three years before the completion of his downtown Pittsburgh skyscraper. This building housed the office headquarters of his many enterprises. The Westinghouse Building, once standing at Ninth street and Penn Avenue, stood ten stories tall and had a stout corner tower topped by a six-sided cap. The building was faced with red brick, red stone and terra-cotta. Embedded gables, a monumental arched main entrance, and its overall massive appearance lent an almost medieval feel to this early skyscraper. The skyscraper was billed by rental agents as "absolutely fireproof." It housed three passenger elevators that reportedly could reach from lobby to tenth floor in twenty seconds.

"The urban renewal programs instituted in the 1950's and designed to create what is now known as the Golden Triangle, or Pittsburgh's new downtown, were responsible for the Westinghouse Building's demise."

(Joseph J. Korom, The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940: A Celebration of Height)
The American skyscraper, 1850-1940 ... - Google Books

The wreckers faced an unusual problem when razing the building:

"Huge Westinghouse Desk Gives Wreckers Headache -- How to Get Inventor's Table Out Before Razing Downtown Office Building Puzzles Engineers"
The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search

The structure was torn down to make way for a parking lot.

It's the William G. Johnston building on the left edge of picture #1.
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Old 05-09-2011, 07:30 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rr61 View Post
this isn't the one I said I'd post, but I found this while looking for the other.




This one shows Boyd being destroyed 5 years after the first photo was taken. Thats Boyd on the right heading down to Forbes. The neat houses seen in the previous photo are just about gone. And that's Locust , also residential at that time, heading down past Boyd to Shingiss. They're next to go.

Thanks for posting pictures in this area.

Back in the 80s I worked with a gentleman who went to Duquesne after WWII and told me that the area had a lot of housing back in the day- and there it is.
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Old 05-09-2011, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugo View Post
Correctamundo!

It's the William G. Johnston building on the left edge of picture #1.

Which corner of 9th and Penn was the building at? Is it where the Cokesbury building is today, or catty corner at the parking lot?

It wasn't real clear, I found the building in "Pittsburgh's Landmark Architecture" by Walter C. Kidney and not on the internet.
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Old 05-09-2011, 07:46 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam View Post
Which corner of 9th and Penn was the building at? Is it where the Cokesbury building is today, or catty corner at the parking lot?
The Westinghouse Building was replaced by what is now the "Phil's Parking" lot at the SW corner of 9th & Penn.
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Old 05-10-2011, 04:27 PM
 
Location: Park Rapids
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Phil's Parking Lot.....

http://www.sebeka.com/images/parkinglot.JPG (broken link)
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Old 05-10-2011, 05:11 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
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So Phil's Parking took over the lot at 9th and Penn from Westinghouse, when the latter moved to Gateway Center.


Now for a followup on this, Phil's has a second location- around the corner at 917 Liberty Ave they have a 2nd parking lot that is accessible through Exchange Way.

What was on the Liberty Ave Phil's lot before it was opened up for parking?

Yes, I know the answer because I remember.
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Old 05-10-2011, 07:25 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam View Post
What was on the Liberty Ave Phil's lot before it was opened up for parking?

Commonwealth Heating and Plumbing Co. was there from 1950 until the building was gutted by fire in 1974.

Below, to the left of the Ewart building, is a partial view of the facade after the fire.



It was the middle of a trio of Richardsonian Romanesque fronts; now in its place are a parking lot and two rough, ugly walls.
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Old 05-10-2011, 08:16 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugo View Post
Commonwealth Heating and Plumbing Co. was there from 1950 until the building was gutted by fire in 1974.

Below, to the left of the Ewart building, is a partial view of the facade after the fire.



It was the middle of a trio of Richardsonian Romanesque fronts; now in its place are a parking lot and two rough, ugly walls.

I believe that Matt's Hardware also burned that day on Liberty Avenue, as I remember.

Matt's special niche in the market was the sale of cans of spray paint, which made for a particularly interesting fire- although I wasn't downtown that day.
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