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Old 02-19-2010, 07:08 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,147,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Humble View Post
What's happening with the new Arena, and what are they going to do with the old one? Raze it, I guess. But what goes in that spot? Just parking?
I don't know. I don't live there any more. See the last paragraph of this Wiki article:

Mellon Arena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 02-19-2010, 07:14 PM
 
2,179 posts, read 3,389,597 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
I don't know. I don't live there any more. See the last paragraph of this Wiki article:

Mellon Arena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Very interesting. So, July this year is scheduled completion date, at least as of when the Wiki article was written. So they're thinking of keeping the old Arena, because of its historical classification. I gotta get home this year. It's been too long. How 'bout you? Do you get back often? Family still there?
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Old 02-19-2010, 07:18 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
1,758 posts, read 4,203,460 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Humble View Post
I lived on Broad Street for a while when I was a kid, between Fairmont and Graham, in a neighborhood that they called Irish Hill. We went to St. Lawrence Church. My grandmother was from Larimer Avenue. Duquesne Gardens I'm told had some top notch boxing matches also. When I was a kid we played in an open field between Broad and Penn we called the cow field. Later they put an Eat 'n Park there. Thanks for your post. I always get homesick on Friday afternoons, remembering all the great Friday nights I had in Pittsburgh.

My dad grew up on Kincaid Street and also went to St. Lawrence. He played a lot of ball at Fort Pitt Field up on the hill in Garfield. He used to mow lawns in Highland Park and said it was a beautiful neighborhood of upper middle and upper class citizens. After seving in the army, he got a job Downtown with PPG and would take the "streetcar" (trolley) to work. He talks about a store Downtown on Fifth Avenue called Donahoe's. This store had live chickens, big barrels of pickles and sauerkraut, fresh meats, a bakery, deli. It was akin to what was found at a Penn Mac and other stores in The Strip. This was in the late 1950s and the store had been around since the late 1800s.
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Old 02-19-2010, 07:32 PM
 
2,179 posts, read 3,389,597 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuwaver88 View Post
My dad grew up on Kincaid Street and also went to St. Lawrence. He played a lot of ball at Fort Pitt Field up on the hill in Garfield. He used to mow lawns in Highland Park and said it was a beautiful neighborhood of upper middle and upper class citizens. After seving in the army, he got a job Downtown with PPG and would take the "streetcar" (trolley) to work. He talks about a store Downtown on Fifth Avenue called Donahoe's. This store had live chickens, big barrels of pickles and sauerkraut, fresh meats, a bakery, deli. It was akin to what was found at a Penn Mac and other stores in The Strip. This was in the late 1950s and the store had been around since the late 1800s.

That's crazy! When I lived on Broad I had a lot of friends up on Kincaid, the street right behind us. There was a candy store and the corner of Penn and Graham run by an older guy. I do remember Highland Park as a pretty ritzy area. Is in not anymore? Man, I used to love to go to the zoo when I was a kid. You say your dad is in his seventies. My mom, who just passed was in her seventies and went to Peabody. If they didn't know each other, no doubt they had a lot of friends in common. I only stayed there till I was in the seventh grade and then we moved around a bit.

Last edited by Mr. Humble; 02-19-2010 at 08:19 PM..
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Old 02-19-2010, 08:44 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,147,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Humble View Post
Very interesting. So, July this year is scheduled completion date, at least as of when the Wiki article was written. So they're thinking of keeping the old Arena, because of its historical classification. I gotta get home this year. It's been too long. How 'bout you? Do you get back often? Family still there?
I'm hopefully going to a wedding there this fall. No, I don't get back more than every couple of years. My brother is the only close family member there, and one of his kids lives here in CO, so sometimes he comes here.
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Old 02-20-2010, 12:34 AM
 
Location: South Oakland, Pittsburgh, PA
875 posts, read 1,481,847 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Humble View Post
I'm pretty sure they built the Arena right around 1960. My father grew up in that neighborhood. The Lower Hill must have been something pretty great. I see that the Epihany Church is still there. That was the home of, started in the church cellar btw, of The Pittsburgh Lyceum, home of some of the best prize fighters in the history of the game. They had at one time, maybe in the '30's, five of the eight world champs fighting out of that gym!
I have heard great stories about the lower hill, but they usually describe the hill pre-WWII. From what I've pieced together, the lower hill was a shadow of its former self by the 1950's, labeled a "slum" by most. People always cite to the construction of the Civic Arena as a tragedy of "urban renewal". Personally, I neither defend nor support it. My history professor, Joel Tarr (see his book Devastation and Renewal: An Environmental History of Pittsburgh) told our class that he actually had a discussion with one of the civil leaders of the day who told him that the Arena's construction coupled with new public housing was virtually unanimously supported by not only city government, but African-American leaders of the hill as well. Unfortunately no one knew then what we all know now about public housing and sweeping demolition. So, yeah, it still is a tragedy, but it's more complex and gray than people often portray it as.
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Old 02-20-2010, 09:29 AM
 
6,356 posts, read 5,001,873 times
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these stories are great. thing is, you can still have these personal days of glory here. this isnt the type of town that is THAT rushed that years go by before you are able to take a breath and realize the great situation you have in your life. its just that we dont realize this until years later, and think the best days are always behind us.

i love reading these personal accounts, but my family history doenst go back as far as others.
my parents came here in the 1960s, from italy. they lived in the once rather heavily italian areas of south oakland for a few years. i always assumed italian was a second language to pittsburgh (my world was small as a 3 year old). religious processions were held often from the local church (St. Regis) to the St. Lorenzo Society.
the older italian people were, well, smothering. they were so humble, devoted to their faith, and well-stocked with lunch meats and cookies. they were always related to the parents, somehow, but in a way i could never remember.

i cant imagine children playing out on Welsford Street or Parkview Avenue anymore like we did back in the very early 1970s.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Impala26 View Post
...From what I've pieced together, the lower hill was a shadow of its former self by the 1950's, labeled a "slum" by most. People always cite to the construction of the Civic Arena as a tragedy of "urban renewal"... My history professor, Joel Tarr ...told our class that he actually had a discussion with one of the civil leaders of the day who told him that the Arena's construction coupled with new public housing was virtually unanimously supported by not only city government, but African-American leaders of the hill as well...
thank you, impala! yes, i have had teachers in my college days decry the Arena as "negro replacement" and so on. i suspected this wasnt the case, that the pre-Arena Hill wasnt some urban multi-cultural paradise that it is purported to be. i found a number of accounts that said what you are saying - that by 1960 it was in decline, and dumpy.
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Old 02-20-2010, 02:49 PM
 
Location: Morgantown, WV
1,000 posts, read 2,338,247 times
Reputation: 999
Here you go, have fun: The Brookline History Homepage

Just to get you started, this is found under Facts/Photos/History on the main link, it's a huge photo collection showing everything from how the point changed each year from 1750-2004 to old stadium plans, churches, etc. Just play around with it, there's an endless amount of photos/information: Brookline Historical Facts and Remembrances
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Old 02-20-2010, 03:32 PM
 
254 posts, read 588,482 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Humble View Post




A nice shot of the Lower Hill before they tore it down for the Civic Arena.
I realize the case for renewal/mass clearance of the Hill is not clearly open and shut. However, as the photo points out, the Lower Hill was an intact urban neighborhood connected directly to Downtown. True, it had seen better days by the 1940's, but so had Society Hill in Philly. That neighborhood was saved from destruction and ultimately rahabbed into a great neighborhood. While the Lower Hill probably did not have great underlying architecture like Society Hill did, it did have the asset of location adjacent to Downtown. In these 'back-to-city' times, the Lower Hill could've provided a viable downtown residential neighborhood.
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Old 02-20-2010, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Charlotte
1,763 posts, read 3,272,813 times
Reputation: 1178
I fondly remember the above ground trolleys in downtown. I wish they hadn't built the subway. Instead they should have expanded the trolleys again.
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