Pittsburgh Planning Commission Approves Penguins Arena Design
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Pittsburgh Planning Commission Unanimously
Approves New Design Of Penguins Arena |
The Pittsburgh Planning Commission yesterday voted unanimously in favor of the new design for the Penguins' proposed $290M arena after architects "tweaked certain elements to address" concerns, according to Mark Belko of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The commission in April panned the design as "bland and too mall-like." The approval "clears the way for a groundbreaking this summer," and the arena is scheduled for completion by the start of the 2010-2011 NHL season. The Penguins yesterday unveiled "nighttime renderings of the arena that pictured the structure in a more favorable light." One rendering showed the building's "centerpiece -- a brightly lit glass atrium running along Washington Place and facing Downtown." Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer: "The atrium in the front allows everyone to see the energy and electricity inside the building during events. When you're inside, you get to see the most beautiful city skyscape in the country." Architect HOK Sport, in modifying the design, reduced the "amount of glass on the Fifth Avenue side of the arena and varied the storefronts to make the proposed spaces more individualized." The team also added "more glass and removed banners from the arena's Centre Avenue side and the east facade facing Crawford Square, where some of the brick was removed in favor of panels at the request of engineers." The video display board on Centre Avenue also was reduced in size. Belko notes the Penguins also "may commission public art to fill some of the space" in the arena, rather than hanging banners. HOK architect Wayne London said that the team also is "looking for sites for a 'statue of a well-known player for the region,' referring to" Penguins Chair Mario Lemieux (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/7). In Pittsburgh, Jeremy Boren reports the club and HOK Sport "must comply with six conditions the Planning Commission attached to its approval before the city will grant building and occupancy permits." The "highest-profile requirement is construction of a pedestrian walkway and steps along the arena from Centre Avenue down to Fifth Avenue." The team "must have a plan for the pedestrian link by December and funding for it must be in place by August 2009 before the city will grant an occupancy permit" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 5/7).
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