Historic status sought for Iron City Brewery
January 7, 2010 - The Historic Review Commission yesterday heard unanimous support for historic designation for the Iron City Brewery on Liberty Avenue in Lawrenceville. The body will decide whether to recommend historic status at its meeting on Feb. 3. Keith Cochran, a nominator of the property, provided 210 letters of support "from people across the street and as far away as Albuquerque and North Carolina," he told the commission, which had given earlier approval for the beer company to raze a 1970s-era building in the complex. Citing the successful reuse of other industrial buildings, including the Chautauqua Ice Co. as the Senator John Heinz History Center, he said Lawrenceville is "experiencing its own renaissance" and sits at an opportune crossroads for a successful retooling of the brewery as a mixed-use property: "If there was ever a good time, it is now," he said. Andrew Mertz of Lawrenceville moved to Pittsburgh from the Midwest, "where we don't have nearly the number of old buildings Pittsburgh has," he said. "I would hate to see Pittsburgh take that for granted." In other business, the commission tabled the city's request to demolish the pedestrian bridge over Norfolk Southern tracks in Allegheny Commons Park on the North Side. Pat Hassett, assistant director of the Department of Public Works for transportation and engineering, said he hopes the commission will approve demolition of the entire bridge and its abutments at its February meeting. "Our engineers are saying it [the bridge] is irreparable," he said. "We have accepted that," said Alida Baker, staffer for the restoration initiative in Allegheny Commons Park. "We are not engineers." The initiative is restoring the city's oldest park and wants the bridge to be rebuilt. Mr. Hassett said the city wants to replace it and will most likely do the demolition itself. Preliminary design work has been done on a new span and "consensus from the mayor's office is that it should be replaced." He said Norfolk-Southern is "cooperative and understands the city's interest."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10007/1026401-53.stm#ixzz0dw4yrh5y
Publication: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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