Tag Archives: point-state-park

Frank Lloyd Wright Pittsburgh

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Design for a Civic Center at the Point

When I started this preservation month project of writing about a different historic Pittsburgh place every day in May, I thought it would be a fun way to share a little bit more about some of the places I have always known in Pittsburgh and to learn more about the history of theses places. Three weeks into preservation month, I have been amazed at the number of new places and local history that I have learned and the willingness of Pittsburghers to share more information.

Today’s post come from The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh Facebook page. Pittsburgh history lover and fact finder John Schalcosky has been researching and sharing historic Pittsburgh information on Facebook since 2014. Learn more about this fascinating Facebook page of local facts and how John started the site on Episode #31 of the Marta on the Move podcast.

I reached out to John about preservation month and he suggested I take a look at some of the Facebook photo albums that he has put together. I thought I knew about all of the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in and around Pittsburgh but I had no idea that he had designed a civic center for the point.

Frank Lloyd Wright Pittsburgh

In the 1940s the Allegheny Conference on Community Development set out to rethink the land use of the point, the area that we now call Point State ParkEdgar J. Kaufmann, owner of the Kaufmann department store, was on the board of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development commissioned Frank Lloyd Write to create a design for a civic center at the point.

From the The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh Facebook Album on Frank Lloyd Wrights design:

Imagine instead of The Point’s Water Fountain, this incredible building was built in its place! Frank Llyod Wright designed this circular building with it being more than 1,000 feet in diameter and 175 feet tall containing an opera house, sports arena, three movie theaters, and a convention hall all wrapped by a spiraling strip of road. During the course ofWW2, federal and local authorities established three goals for the site: “the creation of a park commemorating the site’s history, improved traffic circulation through the construction of new roads and bridges, and designation of a portion of the site for new office buildings, intended to stimulate private interest in the Golden Triangle”.

Read more about this design and see the other photos of Wright’s design on The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh Facebook page.

Read more about Frank Lloyd Wright’s Design for a Pittsburgh Civic Center

More Historic Pittsburgh Buildings

You might be interested in some of these Pittsburgh buildings…

Have a building you would like to learn more about? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Links Worth a Look – April 15th

Here are some links/articles/blog posts that are worth a look:

  • Pittsburgh Parks CEO to Attend White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors – Meg Cheever, CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy has been invited to attend the White House Conference on America's Great Outdoors. From the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy email "The conference focuses on conservation and connecting people to the nature. Cheever and the Parks Conservancy are improving quality of life for the people of Pittsburgh in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh."
  • Penn Brewery reopens with a new Pale Ale to benefit The Point – Local beer lovers rejoice! Penn Brewery is reopening with a new Pale Ale – Free event on Thursday 4/15 @ Penn Brewery. Proceeds from the event will support Riverlife's Friends of the Fountain campaign, which kicked last summer to complete the final phase of the Point State Park renovation. Riverlife has raised over $5 million so far.
  • For Earth Day: Give ELoop your old cell phone, and other green moves worth making – For anyone looking for info on recycling your old cell phones… "eLoop, an electronics recycler based in Murraysville, Pa., is hoping Earth Day will inspire people around our region to search their homes for old, outdated cell phones. Their goal is to recycle 1 million unwanted cell phones between now and World Environment Day (June 5) through their new Last Call initiative. "

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