Guide to the Records of Gateway Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 1950-1951

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Records of Gateway Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Creator
Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Creator
City of Pittsburgh
Creator
Urban Redevelopment Authority (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Collection Number
MSS#130
Extent
1.0 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Date
1950-1951
Abstract
Gateway Center is a 23-acre commercial development adjacent to Point State Park in Pittsburgh's downtown area. The plan for Gateway Center was part of a comprehensive urban renewal project, known as the Point Park Project or Renaissance I, that included the development of Point State Park and commercial and corporate investment in the surrounding area. These records include architectural blueprints, construction and mechanical notes, and personal profile reports.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Rachel Balliet in June 1994. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Summer, 2001.
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History of Gateway Center

Gateway Center is a 23-acre commercial development adjacent to Point State Park in Pittsburgh's downtown area. The plan for Gateway Center was part of a comprehensive urban renewal project, known as the Point Park Project or Renaissance I, that included the development of Point State Park and commercial and corporate investment in the surrounding area. City and County officials had been attempting to devise a civic improvement plan as early as 1910, but it was not until 1943 with support from Richard King Mellon that the overall Point Park Project was defined. In 1943, Mellon and other local corporate leaders dedicated to Pittsburgh's post-War development and renewal established the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, which served as a non-profit, non-partisan civic and community development group. Soon after its establishment, the Allegheny Conference formed the Point Park Committee to devise an overall redevelopment plan for a targeted 59 acre site--36 acres devoted to a national or state historic park and 23 acres devoted to new commercial development. Concurrently, the City of Pittsburgh under the guidance of Mayor David L. Lawrence was also planning for a comprehensive Point Park Project. In 1945, the Allegheny Conference suggested to Mayor Lawrence that a Pittsburgh Redevelopment Authority be established to implement the urban redevelopment law (or the City's power of eminent domain) to acquire the privately owned land designated for the 23 acre commercially developed portion of the Point Park Project. The Urban Redevelopment Authority was approved and Mayor Lawrence served as its first chairman. The Point Park Committee, now with members of both the Allegheny Conference and the City of Pittsburgh, sought a primary investor for the proposed area. In 1946, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York agreed to negotiations for developing what was to become Gateway Center.

In order to develop the 23-acre site, eminent domain was imposed on many private property owners whose businesses and office space occupied the area. Some of the property owners questioned the designation of their property as "blighted" (which was one component necessary for imposing eminent domain) and the authority of the City to seize private property for the purpose of commercial, rather than public, development. In 1950, several of the displaced property owners took their case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but it was ruled in favor of the development and the Gateway Center Project soon began buying property and issuing condemnation bonds. Several property owners continued their resistance to the project and organized the Property Owners and Tenants Protective Committee, headed by Andrew L. Gamble, which appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. The Equitable Life Assurance Society retained legal services from the local firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay who assisted with the litigation and who with a U.S. Supreme Court trial pending, began keeping exact records of each property including detailed construction and mechanical notes, blueprints, and photographs. "Personality Reports" were also taken which documented the reaction and resistance, if any, of the property owners. The firm of Ludgate, Lear and Company was contracted for the detailed survey, which would serve in court as evidence to the condition of buildings designated as blighted. In addition these surveys would also be used in case the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the state's decision and determined the development by eminent domain unconstitutional and, therefore, require the Urban Redevelopment Authority to rebuild those structures it was already beginning to demolish as of June 1950. By October of the same year, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case and the development of Gateway Center was well underway. Pittsburgh was the first city to utilize their power of eminent domain for such a large-scale urban renewal project. The completion of the Point Park Project, which includes Point State Park and Gateway Center became known as the Pittsburgh Renaissance and despite resistance from some community members, was considered one of the first and most successful urban renewal projects in the country.

Scope and Content Notes

The basic arrangement of records follow the original survey which divides the properties into four separate blocks and assigns each property a number (See Appendix for building name and street address). These records include architectural blueprints, construction and mechanical notes, and personal profile reports. The general material includes an overall plot outline (Department of City Planning, City of Pittsburgh, File No. 3717) of the area designated for demolition with the properties' original location. Only about one half of the properties designated for the developed area are included in these records, it is unclear whether the remaining property records are missing or if only these certain properties were surveyed.

The construction and mechanical notes provide the date of construction; the estimated "new replacement value" which includes the building, building equipment and property improvement costs; detailed description of architectural style, building specifications and dimensions; building equipment including plumbing, heating, lighting; and an itemized listing of property improvements. The surveys for Block One include properties 12 through 27. Property number 9 is included with the survey for property number 25 and Property number 2 has no survey report, only photographs. Also included with the Block One material are three damage reports (1950) on property numbers 17, 20, and 21. These reports document the damage to these buildings from the time of their original survey in May or June of 1950 to the following month. The materials for Block Two include the moving report for Recordak, a photographic studio housed in the F.F. Thorpe Building (No. 53) which documents the estimated costs of dismantling, moving and re-assembling of this business to the Baum Building at 818 Liberty Avenue (Pittsburgh, Pa.). The surveys for Block Three and Four were taken in 1951 and it should be noted that Block Three, property number 2, is interfiled with properties 31 and 32. The Personality Reports of 1950 document the reactions of many of the property owners and tenants upon receipt of their condemnation bonds and moving settlements. The reports include whether those documented are in favor of the project and the likelihood of legal action by the owners and tenants.

These records provide an excellent resource for those researching architectural structure and style from the early 20th century, although a few buildings were recorded as being built c1850. These records are also insightful to those researching the litigation of eminent domain and those powers in relation to urban redevelopment.

Appendix

Block 1

  1. # 9 Eppy's Parking Garage 400 Duquesne Way
  2. # 12 Stanwix Parking Lot 410 Duquesne Way
  3. # 13 General Electric Supply Company 420 Duquesne Way
  4. # 14 Duff's Iron City College 424-6Duquesne Way
  5. # 15 Association for the Improvement of the Poor 428 Duquesne Way
  6. # 17 Lichti Enterprises 437 Penn Avenue and 124-26-28-30-32-34-36 Stanwix Street
  7. # 18 Women's Industrial Change 435 Penn Avenue
  8. # 19 Professional Building 429-31-33 Penn Avenue
  9. # 20 B.P.O. Elks # 11 425 Penn Avenue
  10. # 21 Mayfair Hotel 419-21Penn Avenue
  11. # 22 and # 23 Pittsburgh Parking Garage 409-17 Penn Avenue
  12. # 24 Crafts Building 401-03-05 Penn Avenue
  13. # 26 Terminal Coal and Coke Building 129Fancourt Street
  14. # 27 H.H. Seiferth Building 121-23 Fancourt Street

Block 2

  1. # 45 and # 46 A.L. Braum Building 404-6 Penn Avenue
  2. # 47 Congress of Women's Clubs 408-10 Penn Avenue
  3. # 50 A.L. Gamble Building 416-18 Penn Avenue
  4. # 51 Wunderly-Dewar Building 420-22 Penn Avenue
  5. # 52 Smithfield Paint Company 424-26Penn Avenue
  6. # 53 F.F. Thorpe Company 428-30 Penn Avenue
  7. # 54 Demmler-Schenk Building 432-24 Penn Avenue
  8. # 55 Green Mill Restaurant 436 Penn Avenue
  9. # 56 Stanwix Hall 438-40-42 Penn Avenue
  10. # 62 Robbins Building 433 Liberty Avenue
  11. # 63 Buchholz and Maus Building 431 Liberty Avenue
  12. # 64 Sleep-Well Products 429 Liberty Avenue
  13. # 65 Baskin Building 427 Liberty Avenue
  14. # 66 State Liquor Store 425 Liberty Avenue
  15. # 67 Commonwealth Heating Company 423 Liberty Avenue

Block 3

  1. # 2 Pittsburgh Pump Corporation 120-22 Fancourt Street
  2. # 4 and # 5 Manufacturers Distributing Company 325 Penn Avenue
  3. # 7 Blaw-Knox Company 319-21 Penn Avenue
  4. # 31 Joseph Hoover Building 316 Penn Avenue
  5. # 32 Hirsch Building 318-20 Penn Avenue
  6. # 35 Hotel Carr 326-328 Penn Avenue
  7. # 36 Nicholas-Mitchell Incorporated 206 Fancourt Street
  8. # 37 Pittsburgh Case Sales Company 212-14-16 Fancourt Street
  9. # 40 Sacks Store Fixture Company 319-21-23 Liberty Avenue

Block 4

  1. # 73 American Oil Company 320 Liberty Avenue
  2. # 76 Cena's Restaurant 326 Liberty Avenue
  3. # 77 G W Leach Company 328 Liberty Avenue
  4. # 78 Point Cafe 330 Liberty Avenue
  5. # 79 Point Bar 332 Liberty Avenue
  6. # 86 Gordon Plumbing and Heating 8 Third Avenue
  7. # 95 and # 96 Wonder-Lite Manufacturing 19-21 Boulevard of the Allies
  8. # 108 and # 109 Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad Powerhouse First Avenue (end)

Arrangement

The Gateway Center Records are housed in two boxes and arranged alphabetically and numerically by folder title with general material arranged to the front.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These materials came in one accession in 1993.

Acc# 1993.0045 Gift of Ralph Demmler (Records. Mr. Demmler is an associate for the firm Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay).

Preferred Citation

Records of Gateway Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 1950-1951, MSS# 130, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Rachel Balliet in June 1994.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on May 30, 2001.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Gateway Center
    • American Oil Company
    • Elks Club (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Ludgate, Lear and Company
    • Mayfair Hotel (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Urban Redevelopment Authority (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

    Other Subjects

    • Architecture -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Eminent domain -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Interior decoration -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Urban renewal -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Point Park Project

Container List