Quote:
Originally Posted by Boerumer
It's about time they did something on those parking lots, when they tore down the Civic Arena (should have been landmarked and reused) a lot of promises were made, and I'm surprised to see all these years later just parking lots still.
Pittsburgh has a gem of a downtown, from gmaps I see they're building a platform over 579 to connect this area, is that going to be a park or more buildable land? I'm interested to see the masterplan. Who knows what this building will actually look like, it's obvious they told the renderer to make it as ethereal as possible, and not much else.
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What else could you do with a retractable roof arena from the 1960s? It was a cool building, but its location was a major mistake. Not only did it serve to destroy literally
thousands of structures (houses, apartment buildings, commercial buildings, churches, schools, etc.) which made up the historic Lower Hill District, the Arena, its sea pf parking lots, and an expressway served to choke Downtown off from the rest of the city...and hastened its demise in the 1970s to just about 10 years ago.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were granted development rights to the 30 acre parcel, and they've received extension after extension after extension because they are politically connected and want the parking revenue. That's the main reason why the land has sat vacant since the Arena was torn down
20 years ago.
The cap will be a park, helping to reconnect downtown and the Lower Hill. Can't build anything atop as 579 will still traverse beneath.