N. Side group supports demolition of 3 old buildings

Structures are in block with Garden Theater

The Allegheny City Central Association overwhelmingly voted Monday night to support the demolition of three landmark buildings on West North Avenue on the city’s North Side.

The nonprofit association acts as a community liaison for the city and its Urban Redevelopment Authority. Association members and neighborhood residents packed the Alphabet City building for the vote on a motion that says that, as a consulting party to the Federal North memorandum of understanding, the ACCA will send a letter to the URA supporting the demolition of structures at 4, 6 and 8 W. North Ave.

Before the vote, ACCA board president Patrick Dexter cautioned “this doesn’t mean the buildings are going to come down tomorrow. This is the beginning of the public process.”

The buildings are situated along what is known as the Garden Theater block. The structures are in various stages of disrepair.

The block’s saga goes back more than two decades, when the URA tried to buy all of the buildings on the block, including 4, 6 and 8 W. North and the Garden Theater. It got all except the Garden Theater, the former adult movie house that was shuttered in 2007. The city ultimately won a court battle for ownership of the entire block.

ACCA board member Vince Salvino made the motion to support the buildings’ demolition last month. The association tabled the motion, pending further consideration at Monday’s meeting.

Mr. Salvino said his proposal might serve as a call to action for others in the community who may have an opposing view.

“I think the thing we can agree on is, nothing is happening,” he said.

Brian Beven, representing Preservation Pittsburgh, pointed out that his group, which formed after the demolition of the Syria Mosque in Oakland in 1991, has opposed the demolition of the West North Avenue structures.

“I’m here to find out where the community is now,” he said.

Chuck Alcorn, senior project development specialist for the URA, said each development solution for the block has a funding gap, which he estimated at between $2.2 million and $5 million. Mr. Alcorn said the public money spent to preserve the buildings over the years is in the “tens of thousands of dollars.”

He added that every scenario being looked at involves URA and city money.

Mr. Dexter said there may be some “hesitancy” for the types of tenants who can anchor such a development on the North Side.