Tag Archives: Albright United Methodist Church

Mon 7/25 – Final Public Hearing on Historic Designation for 110 Year Old Church

If you have been reading the blog or following IheartPGH on Twitter and Instagram over the past year, you have noticed more than a few posts about the Albright United Methodist Church building. On Monday afternoon, I will address the Pittsburgh City Council at the final public hearing on the historic designation for this building.

Albright-take-actionI am asking for your help in making sure that this building receives a historic designation in the City of Pittsburgh.  A year ago, I helped to organized a community block party to bring together neighbors and community members to think about the future of this space. The current proposal for the future of this building is to sell it to a developer who plans to demolish it and replace it with a drive-thru coffee shop. I know Pittsburgh can do better. I don’t want to live in a city that replaces community spaces and historic buildings with drive-thrus.  Last year, I personally nominated the Albright Church Building for historic designation in the City of Pittsburgh.  The more I’ve learned about the history of this building, the more convinced I am about the importance of preserving this building. Designed by architect Chancy W. Hodgdon, this is one of the best and most complete sets of stained glass windows from the SS Marshal company. You can read more about the history of this building from the East Liberty Historic Society here.

The historic designation process in Pittsburgh has three steps. After a nomination is submitted, the nomination is heard by the Historic Review Commission, then the Planning Commission, then it goes to Pittsburgh City Council. Both the Historic Review Commission and the Planning Commission have voted to support the historic designation for Albright. The final public hearing for this historic designation is on Monday, July 26, 2016 at 2pm.  Thanks to the efforts of neighbors, Preservation Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Young Preservationists, we have had a huge turnout at the first two hearings. I am asking for your help to make sure we have a great turn out at the hearing on Monday.

Here is a portion of my remarks to the City Planning Commission that I think summarizes why this building is important and the opportunity to make this a better community space…

When these churches were built 100 years ago, they served as much more than Sunday morning worship spaces. Just because people are not going to church on Sunday morning, does not mean that we don’t need these spaces and services that churches once offered.

Albright sits at the intersection of 3 neighborhoods, Bloomfield, Shadyside and Friendship. And Albright also sits at the intersection of many different parts of Pittsburgh, a block away from UPMC shadyside, it is also located near the busway and right on several of the main bus routes.

Not only is the Albright church building a geographic hub, it is also at the intersection of several different socio-economic communities.

  • Residents of Bloomfield, Shadyside,Friendship
  • Students
  • Employees of UPMC Shadyside and Allegheny General

[Albright] is ideally situated to be a community hub.

Inspired by some of the incredibly successful examples of churches building being repurposed into a community space.

  • The Union Project – Highland Park
  • Neu Kirch – Northside
  • Niya Page Community Center – Braddock.
  • Calvary United Methodist Church in Allegheny West, which has been an excellent example of a neighborhood coming together to restore and celebrate the historic building in their neighborhood
  • First United Methodist Church, located on the other side of the block has been a model for a community hub as the home for the Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library.

Please take action to help me #SaveAlbright today!

1. Attend the Public Hearing & Speak in FAVOR of the historic designation

City Council Hearing on Historic Designation for Albright
Monday, July 25, 2016 @ 2pm
City Council Chambers, 414 Grant Street, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh PA

The public hearing in front of City Council is the last step in the historic designation process. We have had a great turn out for the past hearings and need to fill every seat in the room with Albright supporters.

  • IMPORTANT: If you are able to attend and you are willing to speak – please call the City Clerk at  412-255-2138 and ask to be listed as a speaker in FAVOR of historic designation.
  • Let us know you will attend and request a t-shirt here.

2. Contact your City Council Representative

Take a moment to send an email to your City Council representative and ask them to support the historic designation for the Albright Church Building. Please cc: Friends@AlbrightPGH.com so we can print a copy to bring to the hearing.

  • Bruce Kraus, Council President – bruce.kraus@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Reverend Ricky Burgess – reverend.burgess@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Daniel Gilman – daniel.gilman@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Natalia Rudiak – natalia.rudiak@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Darlene Harris – Darlene.Harris@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Deborah Gross – deborah.gross@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Daniel Lavelle – daniel.lavelle@pittsburghpa.gov
  • Theresa Kail-Smith – Theresa.Kail-Smith@ pittsburghpa.gov
  • Corey O’Connor – corey.oconnor@pittsburghpa.gov

3. Sign & Share Our Petition

If you have not yet signed the petition supporting Historic Designation for Albright, please sign the petition and share it with your friends. Click here to sign the petition!

4. Donate!

You can help support our efforts by making  a contribution to Friends of Albright through our fiscal sponsor, New Sun Rising. Funds will be used for t-shirt printing and legal costs associated with preserving the building.

Albright-July-24-2015

Photo of Albright from July 24, 2015

You can learn more about Albright at AlbrightPGH.com. You can follow Albright on Facebook, Twitter @AlbrightPGH and Instagram.

#SaveAlbright Update: Public Hearing on Wednesday 3/2

[TL;DR – Wednesday 3/2 is the public hearing for historic designation for Albright, this could be the last best chance for the public to support saving this 109-year-old historic church in Bloomfield, please sign the petition & attend the public hearing.]

If you had told me a year ago, that I would be a regular attendee of the Historic Review Commission meetings for the City of Pittsburgh, I probably would have laughed out loud. In high school, I had an English teacher tell me I would never write an A paper. So I stopped writing and reading and spent all of my time in math and science. To the surprise of everyone, including our teacher, my team won second place in the Chemistry Olympics. It is still funny to me that I now spend a lot of time writing. And I’ve come to understand that I really love history, especially the industrial history of the City of Pittsburgh. I once, very briefly spent 2 days thinking I would move to Boston for a job. The job wasn’t the right one for me, but I also just couldn’t get into all of the colonial history of New England.

Albright-July-24-2015If you have been a long time reader of IheartPGH and/or a regular follower on Twitter, first of all, thank you, every reader, every comment, like and retweet is way better than an A on an english paper. You may have noticed that I have been writing and tweeting about the Albright United Methodist Church building. This grand old church sits at the corner of S. Graham Street and Centre Avenue (486 S. Graham Street), next to the Wendy’s and the building that now is a mattress store, but if you spent your high school years in Pittsburgh’s East End you are likely to remember it as the other Blockbuster Video.

Last fall, I nominated the Albright Church building for historic designation in the city of Pittsburgh. On February 2nd, the Historic Review Commission met and determined that the nomination will move forward. You can read more about the February 2nd hearing in the Post-Gazette -“Preservation fight begins for Albright United Methodist Church in Bloomfield” (February 4, 2016). Next week is the public hearing on the historic designation for the Albright Church Building.

Take Action to #SaveAlbright

Albright-Public-Hearing

Please help me make sure this building stays in our city for another 110 years by attending the public hearing on Wednesday, March 2, at 12:30 p.m., at 200 Ross St., on the first floor, and by signing the petition showing your support for historic designation of the Albright Church building.

  1. Attend the Public Hearing on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 and voicing your support for historic designation. RSVP & share the Facebook event for the hearing.
  2. Send the Historic Review Commission a letter of support (sample letters and details here).
  3. Sign the petition & share with your friends!http://bit.ly/AlbrightPetition.
  4. Tweet your support – use the #SaveAlbright and please cc @BillPeduto & @DebGrossPGH.

A few reasons Albright Should Receive Historic Designation in the City of Pittsburgh

  • Built in 1906, the Albright church building will turn 110 years old this year.
  • The building was designed by architect Chancey W. Hodgdon.
  • The stained glass windows in the building are one of the best examples and most complete collections of stained glass created by the SS Marshall Glass company, which was located on the North Side.
  • The building located at 486 S. Graham Street has the original corner-stone from the previous church building, which was located downtown before the congregation moved to the East End. These are just a few of the reasons this building should be nominated for historic designation.

More information on the history of the Albright Church building:

  • Read more about the history of the Albright Church building the East Liberty Valley Historic Society’s fall newsletter here.
  • Read the entire historic designation application for the Albright Church building here.

Albright – An Opportunity for Historic Preservation & Community Space

SAVEAlbright-heartI have nominated this building for historic designation because I care deeply about the fabric of our neighborhoods. There was a point in time where these churches were used for much more than a worship space on Sunday mornings. Churches and settlement houses provided activities, meals and services for their members all week long. Many churches offered preschool classes and recreational spaces.  Before we shutter these buildings, and in many cases tear them down, might this be the time to talk about transforming these spaces into third places that continue to provide child care, recreations, or many other things that the community needs today.

The Albright church is technically in Bloomfield, but sits at the intersection where Bloomfield meets Friendship and Shadyside. This is the ideal location for a community space that can serve multiple neighborhoods and populations from students to seniors. We have an exciting opportunity to preserve this building and to transform this space into a space that continues to serve our community.

Some other examples of how churches have been preserved, restored and re-purposed in Pittsburgh area:

  • Union Project – located in Highland Park, this building now houses and arts program, office space and is rented for a variety of community events.
  • Neu Kirche – located in East Deutschtown, this church was built in 1889 and now house a contemporary arts center.
  • Calvary United Methodist Church – the Allegheny Historic Preservation Society is a group of neighbors that has successfully raised millions of dollars to support the preservation and restoration of this church.
  • Mr. Smalls – former church in Millvale has been re-purposedas a music venue that attracts artists from around the globe.