Building owner launches campaign to save Froggy’s
A businessman who owns a building near the old Froggy’s nightspot Downtown is trying to stave off the watering hole’s last call.
Jay Green, owner of the Power Building at 216 Boulevard of the Allies, has launched a Facebook campaign to save the famed restaurant and several other buildings on Market Street and First Avenue facing demolition.
“The Firstside national historic district is supposed to represent two- to three-story buildings. This was a neighborhood, the first neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It should be preserved to protect history,” he said Monday.
On his Saving Froggy’s & Pittsburgh Firstside Historic District page on Facebook, Mr. Green is urging supporters to write the Pittsburgh Planning Commission to oppose the demolition of the vacant restaurant and other buildings at 100-102 and 104-106 Market and 209 First Avenue, all dating back to the mid-1800s or the early 20th century.
“We can do better than tear down everything from our past and build soulless skyscrapers. That is not what belongs in Pittsburgh’s Firstside,” the post stated.
Troiani Properties is seeking permission from the planning commission to raze the buildings to clear the path for the construction of a 30-story, mixed-use tower that would include 200,000 square feet of office space, 151 residences and ground-level retail.
The commission will be briefed on the demolitions and the highrise proposal Tuesday.
Michael Troiani, president of the Troiani Group, has said he is moving to raze the decaying buildings because of “life safety concerns,” claiming “masonry is crumbling into the street.”
The city previously denied his request for an emergency permit to demolish the long-vacant six-story building at 209 First, which he maintains is in danger of collapsing. He is appealing that decision.
Mr. Troiani also has questioned the historic significance of the structures, saying they “are not contributors to any special designation of the area,” and most of the facades are recreations, not originals.
He could not be reached for comment Monday.
In addition to Mr. Green, Mr. Troiani also is facing opposition from local preservationists, including the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, Preservation Pittsburgh and the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh.
They believe the buildings can be saved and incorporated into the new development.
During a briefing last summer, some planning commission members also urged Mr. Troiani to reconsider the proposed demolitions, with one saying the proposal would gut the section of Market Street that is part of the Firstside Historic District.
Mr. Green likewise wants to see the buildings saved. He doesn’t believe they are in as bad shape as Mr. Troiani claims.
“The buildings, from all I can tell, can be salvaged by someone who wants to salvage them,” he said.
The building Mr. Green owns is located next to the site of the former Tramps and Papa J’s Centro restaurants. The two buildings that housed those eateries were demolished last year as part of the assemblage of land needed for the Troiani development.
Dating back to the 19th century, those two buildings had a colorful history, one that reportedly included a stop on the Underground Railroad and a second life as a brothel.
Mr. Green, president of Big Science Music, which writes music for commercials, said there may have been tunnels in some of the buildings, including his, that led to the Monongahela Wharf, which at one time was a commerce hub before becoming a parking lot.
He believes the building that housed Froggy’s, which closed in 2003, was a trading hub for offloaded cargo. There also may have been a tunnel in the old Tramps building.
“That was a historic building that shouldn’t have been lost,” he said.
Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, said the organization has heard talk about the tunnels but hasn’t seen any documentation or evidence to that effect.
The Firstside Historic District runs from Stanwix Street to Grant Street and is bordered by the Boulevard of the Allies and Fort Pitt Boulevard.
It incorporates First Avenue; nearly all of Market, including the affected structures, south of the Boulevard of the Allies; and parts of Wood and Smithfield streets.
Besides the 151 residences and 200,000 square feet of office, Troiani is proposing at the Froggy’s site a “signature corner retail/restaurant to promote the highest and best use along First Avenue.”
Mr. Troiani has said the design will improve the area and honor “the spirit of the prior history of the space.”