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Group Expected To Seek Injunction
To Block Civic Arena Demolition |
The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority Thursday "voted unanimously -- with no discussion -- to start the process to demolish" Civic Arena, according to Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW. SEA Exec Dir Mary Conturo said that within about two months the agency "could start removing asbestos and selling off the arena seats and other assets." She added that the BOD "could award the demolition contract in February, and work would begin immediately after." Conturo said that demolition would cost about $5M, "taking into account money the authority could make from selling usable items in the arena and salvaging materials such as the four-acre stainless steel roof." Penguins officials after the vote suggested that they "want to save parts of the arena to preserve the building's memory." Penguins Senior VP/Business Affairs & General Counsel Travis Williams said that "that could include putting a stainless steel panel from the arena inside" the Captain Morgan Club at the new Consol Energy Center (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 9/17). Williams said that the team "already has had 'several discussions with various national developers' about developing all or part of the 28 acres but has yet to sign any of them." In Pittsburgh, Mark Belko reports the "unanimous vote to demolish the iconic 49-year-old landmark did little to assuage critics who claimed that a nine-month historic review process launched by the SEA, the building's owner, to consider alternatives to demolition was little more than window dressing." It also "will likely move the battle to save the iconic building with the retractable dome into the courts." Architect Rob Pfaffmann "shortly after the vote" said that his Reuse The Igloo group "would seek an injunction to block the demolition." He "believes that the SEA's actions could run contrary to federal preservation law and could jeopardize future federal funding for any redevelopment." Pfaffmann: "This is the start of the next phase of the fight" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/17).
