Downtown's the heart of our region, historically, culturally, geographically, in every way. Everything about who we are as Pittsburghers began here and remains here.
But the heartbeat of that heart ... isn't as automatic.
It could be the Point Fountain, of course, as it shows up most prominently in pictures. It could be the Blockhouse, our oldest structure, humble though it is. It could be something a lot less tangible, like the Original Oyster House or another old enterprise.
Mine's Mellon Square. Always has been.
And now that I live pretty much across the street -- note the perspective in the photo above -- I've become that much more attached. To the extent that I'm becoming actively involved in its continued preservation through the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Nothing serious or super-time-consuming, but I'm happy to contribute anything I can and grateful that they'd ask.
If you're unfamiliar, Mellon Square, built in 1953-55, is the world's first modernist park built atop a parking structure, situated between Oliver and Sixth Avenues, Smithfield Street and William Penn Place. (We've got another one deeper Downtown between the Boulevard of the Allies and Stanwix Street). It's got the look of an urban oasis, engulfed on all four sides by skyscrapers, and it's got that feel, too, with multiple fountains, including a four-tiered cascading beauty down toward Smithfield.
The original cost was $4 million, and the motivation belonged to magnate Richard King Mellon, who'd heard Alcoa was considering moving to New York. He funded the park as an accompaniment to Alcoa's headquarters along Sixth, made the area more beautiful and lightened everyone's parking load.
Around the turn of the century, the Square started getting rough. Fountains wouldn't work. The terrazzo tiles chipped. Lots of other infrastructure, top to bottom, crumbled. But a project that took several years to both finance and finish was done in 2014, and -- this is always key with these types of deals -- funding was put in place for that to be the case permanently. So that it'd never again fall into disrepair.
It hasn't. Stuff can still go wrong, as was the case this summer when rare plumbing parts needed to be bought and found to get the fountains rolling, but the Parks Conservancy and the city's Department of Public Works teamed up to pull that off just last week, before my flight to Milwaukee and, infinitely more important, just in time for the masses that descended for the Taylor Swift concert, the Juneteenth celebrations and, of course, the countless weddings that take place here using Mellon Square as the photo backdrop.
Some shots I've snapped for you:
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
That last one up there's the brand new Mellon Square Coffee shop inside the grand old lobby of the Omni William Penn Hotel. Dali and I stopped there the other day, and let's just say the coffee's strong in the most literal sense of the term. Almost knocked me over. Which is good.
The Square still needs more love.
The retail section facing Smithfield's completely empty, and it's further been blighted at times by the homeless who use a shelter a half-block away that, by the way, is being shut down today with an aim of finding more adequate shelter for those in need. But there's a constant presence of private park security, as well as Pittsburgh Police, and the area's as safe as any park anywhere. In fact, I've appreciated how much I've heard from the Police about the pride they've taken. As one officer recently put it to me with a big smile, "Seen the Square lately? Huh?"
I love that. Give me the people who invest over those wag fingers any day.
Also and related, I'd really like to see the old Christmas lights brought back this winter, as well. They were part of a Santa-and-reindeer display that'd face Smithfield and really give it a wintertime zing when the fountains have to be off.
That's mine. What's yours?
Let me hear your choice for a true, singular heartbeat for our region in comments.
My previous Downtown features are here.
