Preserving the Past Historic facades completely restored and installed at new Pittsburgh Playhouse

The Point
Summer 2018

The careful restoration of three historic Forbes Avenue facades is complete and they are now installed in the outdoor courtyard of Point Park’s new Pittsburgh Playhouse in Downtown Pittsburgh.

University Architect Elmer Burger said about 95 percent of the facade pieces were salvaged. The pieces of the facades, depending on size, were fastened to backup walls in a variety of ways, necessitating a slow and careful removal process. The removal team was delicate in its approach to avoid chipping or damaging the corners of individual pieces. The glazed face of the terra cotta is fragile and can be easily damaged.

“We have been told it’s the largest terra cotta salvage and rebuild in Pittsburgh,” said Burger, who recently retired from Point Park. “It was a pleasant surprise to be able to salvage so many intact, whole pieces of the facades. Repairs were necessary – terra cotta is a clay product and it’s been fired and exposed to the elements for a long time – but the high percentage we were able to reinstall is remarkable.”

The facades at 320, 322 and 330 Forbes Ave. were documented and numbered for careful dismantling, cataloging, storage and reinstallation. Franco Associates was contracted to handle the removal, storage and reconstruction of the facade pieces. The removal work cost $160,793, while reinstallation cost another $200,000.

 

Fine commercial architecture

Although the lower sections of the three facades were long-ago removed by previous owners, the upper facades represent a fine example of the commercial architecture that once characterized the district, said Ellis Schmidlapp, president of Landmarks Design Associates, a longtime partner of Point Park that oversaw the process.

“The historic value of those buildings rested in the terra cotta ornament on the façades, so we concentrated our preservation efforts there,” Schmidlapp said. “The most sculptural is the facade of the Royal building.” The Royal, located at 320 Forbes Ave., was designed by well-known architects Alden and Harlow, and served as the longtime home for Honus Wagner Sporting Goods. It was the last of the three facades to be installed into the courtyard.

The outdoor courtyard will be open to the public once the new Pittsburgh Playhouse opens, offering an intimate view of the three facades. They will be rebuilt as they were, right down to the replication of the windows, according to Burger. “They look virtually the same,” he said.

Text by Lou Corsaro
Photo and video by Christopher Rolinson
The Point is the magazine of Point Park University