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Old 11-06-2011, 08:19 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,541 posts, read 12,406,148 times
Reputation: 6280

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I really appreciate looking at the series of pictures.

I saw the first picture of this 10 story building with its Art Deco style crenelations at the top, and I was surprised by your dislike of the building. Perhaps the building lost something in its 1969 re-working that is not conveyed in the B/W photographs.

I also liked the juxtaposition of the vertical lines and Art Deco motif of the McCann building with the horizontal Streamline Moderne form of the Downtown Economy Market.

But what really breaks my heart is the last photograph which shows that magnificent Gothic Revival cathedral to commerce was torn down for a ....

PARKING LOT!!!

A PARKING LOT
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Old 11-06-2011, 08:34 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
7,541 posts, read 10,261,826 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kettlepot View Post
But what really breaks my heart is the last photograph which shows that magnificent Gothic Revival cathedral to commerce was torn down for a ....

PARKING LOT!!!

A PARKING LOT

That large parking lot was a temporary fixture, today Gateway 4 is on that parcel.
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Old 11-06-2011, 08:37 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,022,351 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kettlepot View Post
I was surprised by your dislike of the building. Perhaps the building lost something in its 1969 re-working that is not conveyed in the B/W photographs.
Unfortunately yes. The current building:

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Old 11-06-2011, 08:48 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,022,351 times
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The Wabash Terminal:





Being torn down with the McCann building in the background:





Four Gateway under construction, with the Bell Telephone (Verizon) Building as well:



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Old 11-06-2011, 10:18 AM
 
Location: Philly
10,227 posts, read 16,823,631 times
Reputation: 2973
wabash terminal was certainly attractive
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Old 11-06-2011, 10:19 AM
 
802 posts, read 1,321,705 times
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Which site are these photos from?
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Old 11-06-2011, 11:03 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,022,351 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Debbie1125 View Post
Which site are these photos from?
Historic Pittsburgh Images Collections, hosted by Pitt:

Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections - An Online Gateway to Thousands of Photographs and Images Documenting Pittsburgh's Visual Past
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Old 11-06-2011, 11:09 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,022,351 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pman View Post
wabash terminal was certainly attractive
Yeah, it is a shame they tore it down--although some people will tell you that anything associated with the Wabash tunnel was doomed by a powerful curse, and the terminal building itself was severely damaged in a fire in 1946, and I believe it was still abandoned when they tore it down.

Last edited by BrianTH; 11-06-2011 at 11:24 AM..
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Old 11-06-2011, 11:21 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,541 posts, read 12,406,148 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pman View Post
wabash terminal was certainly attractive
Yes, and the Pieta was certainly a nice hunk of marble, and Mozart was a clever little composer, and the Grand Canyon is decent little ditch ...

Just kidding, I know what you mean.

What have we done? It's not like the Germans or the Allies bombed these beautiful old buildings into smithereens.
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Old 11-06-2011, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,620 posts, read 77,624,272 times
Reputation: 19102
Quote:
Originally Posted by kettlepot View Post
Yes, and the Pieta was certainly a nice hunk of marble, and Mozart was a clever little composer, and the Grand Canyon is decent little ditch ...

Just kidding, I know what you mean.

What have we done? It's not like the Germans or the Allies bombed these beautiful old buildings into smithereens.
You see, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away people actually used to live in cities. Then came the automobile, and people decided "Hey, I don't want my kids going to school with those kids, so I'm moving to these newfangled things called suburbs to be with people more like myself". Soon savvy merchants followed their clientele out of the city as well to better serve them. Cities, in a desperate attempt to regain their prominence within the metropolitan areas they once dominated, tore down historic treasure after historic treasure for massive surface parking lots, hoping to entice ex-city residents to drive back into the city from time to time to help support its economic foundation.

Now nine times out of ten when the city tries to rebuild these lost treasures the end results look like garbage (i.e. the newer residential additions on Herron Avenue in Polish Hill).
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