PNC to unveil big Downtown project (Pittsburgh, Oxford: fit in, rental market, land)

[Eugo]

Originally Posted by pman

I think before I signed on I'd want to know what's left of those facades underneath. in a perfect world pnc woudl start ripping them off now to see what's underneath

I don't think there are any hidden facades on the new PNC property, but there is one on the opposite corner of Forbes and Wood, beneath metal siding.




Old photos are hard to come by, but here is the same building in 1931, looking north on Wood Street:




Same building in about 1950 (center of photo):

[gallacus]

Originally Posted by Eugo

I don't think there are any hidden facades on the new PNC property, but there is one on the opposite corner of Forbes and Wood, beneath metal siding.




Old photos are hard to come by, but here is the same building in 1931, looking north on Wood Street:




Same building in about 1950 (center of photo):

Oh man, that poop orange siding looks so much better than that historic crap!

What the hell were people thinking when they built these facade covers in the '60s?! They did the same thing on that building across the street from 3 PNC, when they took the cover off of it I was stunned! THAT was hiding under there all these years?

I seriously think that architects got caught up in the acid craze in the '60s, there's no other explaination for this crap!

[gallacus]

To add to my comment above, here is what they uncovered when they took the hideous siding off the front of 535 Liberty Ave:



Look at this building in Google Streets to see what it was like before they removed the cover!

[UKyank]

Not much different then the many would be beautiful brick homes around that people have covered over with plain looking siding

[WestLibertyAve]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

But what they city needs to get a handle on is the insane amount of trouble making kids that hang around the Wood St T station....where all the fights break out, I think alot of those kids just come downtown to purpose hang at the T station and look to start fights with other kids.....That's just insane.

I've noticed the same problems along Smithfield. You literally have to watch where you walk because of the kids horsing around, there have been several times I've had to sidestep someone who's been playfully shoved or who simply is walking or running around in the sidewalk with no regards to the people who actually need to walk there.

The sad part is the majority of them don't know any better because they haven't been taught any better. It's definitely a detriment to having to catch a bus downtown though.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by WestLibertyAve

I've noticed the same problems along Smithfield. You literally have to watch where you walk because of the kids horsing around, there have been several times I've had to sidestep someone who's been playfully shoved or who simply is walking or running around in the sidewalk with no regards to the people who actually need to walk there.

The sad part is the majority of them don't know any better because they haven't been taught any better. It's definitely a detriment to having to catch a bus downtown though.

The amount of rowdiness and general low-class behavior is part of the reason I personally hate making deliveries Downtown. I can't take two steps in some parts of Downtown carrying our moderately-priced luxury gift items without one of them pawing at them, making comments, etc. Some people just take no pride in their city.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

The amount of rowdiness and general low-class behavior is part of the reason I personally hate making deliveries Downtown. I can't take two steps in some parts of Downtown carrying our moderately-priced luxury gift items without one of them pawing at them, making comments, etc. Some people just take no pride in their city.

Why can't it be those type of people moving out and why the population is decreasing.

[pman]

siding is a good, cheap way to preserve something provided you don't make irreparable alterations to teh facde putting it on

[BrianTH]

I'm not defending the aesthetics of orange siding, but as pman notes, it is a cheap way to eliminate maintenance issues.

By the way, just thinking about the projects I have seen which have worked better or worse, I think this project would be helped by the fact the buildings are small in scale, and in the end it would just look like a row of small buildings (literally true, in the case of the corner building). So you don't have to try to pull off anything unnatural looking.

[PreservationPioneer]

Tear that orange crap off immediately.

I don't know why Aldi didn't just move there rather than the south side. With that cheap pole barn siding, it already looks like one of their buildings.